Uzumaki Naruto: Patriarch of Ash
by AlexTheRoyal
Summary: After Nartuo is killed by Sasuke at the Valley of the End, Tsunade reveals he was the son of The Fourth Hokage. Things immediately begin to spiral out of control for Konoha. Later, Naruto is curious as to why he has woken up in a casket. (Rated M for language and mature scenarios, no lemons.)
1. The Death of Uzumaki Naruto

Chapter One: The Death of Uzumaki Naruto.

Sasuke stared down at the still warm corpse of his once teammate Uzumaki Naruto. The gaping hole in his chest where his heart should have been was bleeding profusely, mixing with the rain and running in rivulets off the stone shore and into the water; staining it a light red.

"It's funny," Sasuke began, talking to the dead body. "I hated you. You were loud, brash, thick-headed, and were about as sociable as a chimpanzee… but you were the closest thing to a friend that I had in that gods-forsaken village." Sasuke stiffened, gripping his eyes as a sudden spring of pain erupted from behind them. "Gah!" Clasping his hands to his eyes he fell to his knees, the pulsating ache of the cursed seal on his shoulder only seeming to exacerbate the sensation of a thousand electric pinpricks shooting out from inside his skull.

Just as suddenly as the pain came however, it went. Sasuke dropped his hands to the ground to keep himself from falling and opened his eyes, only to see the dead, glassed over eyes of Naruto staring back up at him. Naruto's red, slitted eyes had returned to their normal blue, but all semblance of the boundless optimism Naruto had exuded from them was gone. They were empty eyes, looking up at him… judging him.

"Shut up!" He shouted down at the corpse, "I had to do it! I had to kill you to get the Mangekyo! I need this power to kill Itachi! You wouldn't understand! He took everything from me! I have to kill him! It's my duty!"

The glassy blue eyes continued to stare, regardless of Sasuke's justifications. With a loud grunt Sasuke got up before kicking Naruto's body with enough force to shove him off the rock where he stood and into the river, where it began to slowly float away, face down.

Ripping his hitai-ate off Sasuke looked down at the distinct scratch crossing out the Konoha symbol. With a slight smirk he dropped it onto the stone ground, where it hit with a loud clang. Maybe Naruto wasn't as useless as he had previously believed, not that it mattered now. Looking back at Naruto as his body slowly drifted away he felt his breath hitch, looking slightly defeated. "I'm sorry." He whispered to himself. "I had to."

Sasuke shook his head to clear his thoughts. This was childish, and no way for an Uchiha to act. He had wasted too much time ruminating, he had to get to Orochimaru as soon as possible, who knows when Naruto's backup would arrive. Turning on his heel, Sasuke used his remaining strength to run as quickly as he could towards the rendezvous point to the north.

UN:PoA

Kakashi landed without a sound on the hard, stone shore. Picking up the scratched hitai-ate he held it in front of his hound. "Pakkun, what do you smell?" He asked urgently.

"It's Sasuke's for sure, but there's more. The rain's washed most of it away but there's definitely a lot of Naruto's blood here." He stated, "Unfortunately, I can't smell much of a trail anymore, the rain is too heavy."

Kakashi nodded in understanding. "I'll summon some more ninken and we'll spread out, we need to pick the trail back up as soon as-"

"Kakashi-san!" Pakkun interrupted, pointing downstream towards a distinctive orange figure with his paw.

"No..." Kakashi whispered as he dropped the hitai-ate, sprinting across the flowing water towards Naruto. Spanning the distance in just a few seconds he picked up his student, hoping he was merely unconscious. Upon seeing the gaping hole in his chest however, Kakashi knew he was dead.

Scooping the rapidly cooling corpse up in his arms Kakashi closed his single visible eye. "I'm sorry, Naruto, I… I didn't mean to be so late." He sighed, reigning in his emotions in the way that only a hardened shinobi could, before shifting his grip so he could close Naruto's eyes. It was time for the boy to rest.

"Pakkun" He said, turning to his furred friend on the shore. "Pick up Sasuke's hitai-ate and bring it back to the village. We'll see if we can use his scent to train other tracking hounds." Pakkun nodded, picking up the hitai-ate in his mouth.

Without another word, Kakashi began the long journey back to the village.

UN:PoA

"Bring me more deer antler!" Tsunade shouted to one of the bustling nurses, deep bags under her eyes, showing her lack of sleep. She ground together more ingredients in an attempt to counteract the Tongarashigan pill of the Akimichi that Choji had taken. It truly was a fascinating piece of work. By forcing the body to burn through the entirety of its fat stores, the Akimichi clan had discovered how to produce an incredible amount of chakra. The only problem was that the process also produced an extraordinary amount of spiritual heat, throwing the spirit's balance towards one end of the extreme and causing it to spiral out of control, weakening the-

"Hokage-sama!" Tsunade turned to see who interrupted her introspection. A genin she didn't recognize stood before her. "Your presence is requested in the morgue." He said with a bow.

With a deep frown Tsunade responded, "I'm in the middle of a procedure! You can't just barge in here! Who told you to break protocol like this!?" she demanded.

"Kakashi-san did, ma'am. He recently returned with Naruto and ordered me to find you immediately." The young boy explained. He must be fresh out of the academy, that was why she didn't recognize him, and why he was stupid enough to interrupt a medical procedure on a random jounin's orders..

Wait a minute.

Naruto?

Morgue?

"YOU!" Tsunade snapped at another nearby nurse. "I want you to grind some dried lotus root, steep it in a glass of peppermint tea, and force it down Akimichi's throat, understood?" She ordered belligerently before storming off without waiting for a reply.

Tsunade's heart was beating faster than was healthy for a woman of her advanced age as she rushed down the sterile white hallways of the Konoha hospital. After what was arguably the longest 60 seconds of her life she rammed open the doors to the morgue and barged in.

"Kakashi! What is the meaning of this!" She shouted, hoping against hope that her faux anger would change what she knew in her heart had happened to her once again. One of her precious people had died for this gods-forsaken village again. She knew it. She looked only at Kakashi, refusing to acknowledge the obvious orange figure on a nearby gurney.

Kakashi was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, head resting in his hands and hunched over. Without a word he pointed to the corpse of his dead student. Tsunade slowly turned to look at Naruto. He hadn't been cleaned up at all, he was still covered in blood, sweat, and grime. Stepping closer she approached him and rested a hand on his forehead. All the anger was immediately washed away and replaced with an intense, aching sorrow. She had lost another one. She truly was cursed. Running her hand down his front she found the necklace, the cursed necklace that was doomed to kill anyone she gave it to. She had been a fool to believe that this small boy would be able to change her fate. Gripping the crystal she tore it away from him and shoved it into her pocket, fighting back tears as she did.

Looking lower she stared at the gaping wound in his chest, "Chidori?" she asked simply. Kakashi merely nodded his head in response, still refusing to look up. She closed her eyes, refusing to let tears fall, refusing to let Konoha make her cry for another person it had taken away from her. She failed miserably. Falling to her knees, loud sobs wracked her body. When had Naruto become so important to her? When had she let her guard down? She had sworn to herself she would never be vulnerable like that again, but like an abused lover she had made the excuses she knew she shouldn't have. 'It will be different this time,' she had told herself.

Tsunade bit the inside of her cheek, hard enough to draw blood. She savored the taste, let it bring her back to the now. Standing up there was a fire in her eyes. The village had hurt her all over again. So she was going to hurt it back.

"Kakashi," she started, suddenly back to her 'all business' persona. "make yourself presentable. We'll be burying him next to his parents."

Kakashi's eye shot wide when he heard that. To reveal to the village that Sasuke had killed the only heir of The Fourth Hokage. The village would tear itself apart. Less than 48 hours ago, Sasuke had been the village's golden child. A living icon of the next generation rising from the ashes of the last to grow stronger than the old. The lone possessor of the genes to pass on what was arguably the world's most powerful kekkei genkai. Naruto on the other hand, had been treated as a leper since his birth. To suddenly reveal that he was Minato's son and he had been killed by the treasonous 'last Uchiha?' They would be lucky if riots were all they had to deal with. He personally knew several veterans that had served with Minato who would gladly kill anyone that so much as insinuated Minato wasn't perfect, but finding out the village as a whole had been mistreating his only son? An only son that was now dead, and incapable of receiving any form of reparation?

"H-Hokage-sama!" He cried out before the woman could leave the room. "Are you sure that's wise?" He asked.

Tsunade didn't so much as glance back at him. She was far too tired to justify her actions, and as far as she was concerned he could burn with the rest of them. She had to return to her hospital duties for now, but then she had some arrangements to make.

UN:PoA

Sakura was gently shaken awake. She hadn't gotten much sleep. She had stayed up as long as she could, trying to wait until Naruto brought back Sasuke. It was around 4 PM when she finally conceded to the heavy weights that were pulling down her eyelids.

"Sakura dear, you need to wake up. Hokage-sama has called a village-wide meeting in the coliseum." Said a familiar voice.

"M-mom?" She asked, getting up slowly before she remembered what she had stayed up for. "Mom! What time is it!?" She asked hurriedly, looking towards her alarm-clock.

"It's 8 AM dear, you slept all day yesterday. Now you need to get up though, it would look bad for a ninja to not come when summoned by their kage, wouldn't it? Your father is already gone." Mebuki asked. "You go on sweetie, I have to do some things before I can go, but I'll be right behind you." She smiled.

Sakura gave her mom a quick hug and put a hair clip in to make her hair not look as messy before running off to the village center. "Bye mom! Love you!" She shouted as she bolted out the door with a smile.

She knew what the meeting was for. Naruto had gotten Sasuke back and was probably being rewarded or something. Lucky idiot might even be promoted to chuunin for this. She was sure Sasuke would be upset. After all, he had tried to leave, he would probably be put on probation or something, but she didn't care. She was just happy he was back. They could start over, she could be more considerate of his darker feelings. They might even be put on the same team again.

UN:PoA

Kakashi was tense. The village coliseum was filled to bursting, with many ninja choosing to sit on the rooftops around the edges as the civilian population filled the seats. Looking down at the Hokage, he knew that something had snapped inside her. She wore all black as she stood in the center of the arena. Black robes, black eyeliner, black lipstick, black everything. She was making a show of this. There was something off, something about her eyes. The way they were a little too wide. The way they darted back and forth without blinking. Either she had gone crazy, or she was playing a very convincing role of a woman barely holding onto the edges of her sanity.

"Ladies and Gentleman of Konohagakure!" She began. "I come to you, bearing grim news."

Yep, definitely crazy.

"Today we mourn the loss, of one of our most valued shinobi!" She said, projecting her hoarse voice as well as she could.

In the crowd, Sakura's eyes shot wide. "No." She whispered to herself. "Sasuke, Naruto wouldn't!" She clenched her fists tightly, "I'll kill him." She swore to herself. Naruto had killed Sasuke! That idiot couldn't do anything right! She was stupid to think he would bring Sasuke back!

"Today we mourn the death of the son of the Fourth Hokage, The Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze." The crowd erupted into murmurs. The Fourth had never had a son. What was she talking about? Sakura calmed visibly. She was obviously saddened that the unknown son of the Fourth Hokage had died, but that was an irrelevant bit of news to be stored away for later. The fact of the matter was that Sasuke may still be alive.

"Today we mourn the death of the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi!" Again, a stampede of whispers emanated from the crowd. This time more loudly, especially among the shinobi population that knew who she was talking about and were connecting the two bits of information together.

_ 'There was no jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi though,'_ Sakura thought to herself, '_The Fourth had killed it, right?'_ It made sense though, The Fourth _was_ a master of fuinjutsu. If anyone could seal away the beast, it would be him. If this person was both the only son of The Fourth Hokage, _and_ the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, then it was no wonder he chose to hide existence. He was a prime target. Whoever this person was, he must have been a well-kept secret of the village. Possibly an ANBU agent.

"Today we mourn the loss," Tsunade paused, letting the tension build like a maestro conducting an orchestra before finally releasing the pressure. "of Uzumaki Naruto! Who died at the hands of the traitor and official missing-nin, Uchiha Sasuke!" With a snap of her fingers two men brought an ornate casket out into the center of the arena, it was gilded with intricate carvings etched into the wood. When Sakura looked closely, she could barely make out a mop of messy blond hair, and a bulky orange jacket.

Sakura's mouth opened of its own accord. Eyes shooting wide as she realized what the Hokage had just said. She gasped, taking a deep breath.

"NO!" The cry filled the arena, only it did not come from Sakura. She shut her mouth and immediately turned to the source of the noise, just as many other did. Only to see the quiet Hyuuga girl being restrained by her father as she desperately tried to make her way to Naruto's body. "No! Not Naruto-kun! Not Naruto-kun!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"Hinata! Behave yourself!" Hiashi demanded with a hand on her arm, holding her back and attempting to force her to sit back down. "This is no way for a Hyuuga to act!" The man scolded. Hinata refused to listen, and even attempted to jyuuken her father's hand to loosen his grip. His reflexes were too fast for her however and he moved his hand and quickly struck a point in her neck, causing her to go limp. He caught her limp form and placed it back in her seat. Although she couldn't move she was still conscious, and still sobbing. "N-naruto! N-n-naruto!" She cried, a bit of snot coming out of her nose as she cried, not caring for the disgrace she was making of herself. Losing herself to the sorrow of the death of her idol and secret crush. Hiashi had of course known that his daughter harbored feelings for the young blond boy, but hadn't known they were this intense. He would have to talk to her about this later.

"Yes!" Tsunade continued, acting as if the outburst had never happened. "Naruto, son of Minato, had been killed by the traitor, Uchiha Sasuke. He served us in life, as a proud shinobi, and by keeping the Kyuubi sealed within him. He served us still in death, by taking the monstrosity with him into the afterlife!"

She stepped around the casket, resting a hand on Naruto's cheek for a brief moment. "Those of you who wish to pay respects to the hero, Uzumaki Naruto, follow me. We will be burying him next to his parents." She announced before walking away, the same two men from before closed the casket before lifting it and following her out of the coliseum.

UN:PoA

Sakura was numb.

She knew that her parents had spoken to her about something, but she couldn't remember what. She knew that Kakashi had come to her and said something as well, he had even hugged her, but she couldn't feel the warmth of the embrace. The entire burial had felt like she was watching it on TV. Like it wasn't really happening.

True to her word Tsunade had buried Naruto next to his parents in the Namikaze estate. Although perhaps estate was a strong word. The fourth did not come from a clan, but had purchased a couple acres of land outside the city wall. On it was a simple home one could have expected to find in a nice suburb, except everything was incredibly overgrown and run down. Behind the house were two gravestones that simply read "Her safe harbor" and "His red-hot habanero."

In the back of her mind Sakura noted that the body of The Fourth was supposedly destroyed during the Kyuubi attack. Although it made perfect sense that the official report would say that if he had wanted his burial to be private with his apparent wife. Tsunade had spoken some more as Naruto's casket was buried next to his parents, but Sakura couldn't hear her. While many of the villagers chose not to follow Naruto to his burial site, there was still more than enough to make it so she was crowded on all angles as everyone tried to gather around the rather impromptu ceremony.

She went home immediately after the final bit of dirt was placed over Naruto's grave. After her parents talked to her about friendship and loss or something, she went into her room and sat at her desk. The same desk she sat at when she had done homework back in the academy. It was funny, it had only been what, a year since they graduated? She couldn't remember. It was like none of that was real, like it had happened to a different person. She wasn't the person she was a mere 4 days ago. Her world had changed the moment she realized what she had done. She knew that keeping his promises was part of Naruto's nindo. She knew he liked her. She knew she could use that to get him to go after Sasuke. If she hadn't been so pushy with Sasuke, had been a better friend and less of a flirt, he might have stayed. If she hadn't begged Naruto to go after Sasuke, he would still be alive. If she had been stronger she could have gone with him. If. If. If.

It was her fault Sasuke left. It was her fault Naruto was dead. It was her fault she was all alone.

Sakura was numb.

UN:PoA

The week after Naruto's burial was hectic to say the least. Kakashi was wrong about there being riots, however. So that was a positive. In fact, Kakashi realized that the village was taking the revelation that the pariah was actually a hero rather well. There were plenty of heated arguments, but no one had died yet. Many of the villagers were simply sulking, minds filled with _'I should have'_ and _'if only.'_ The melancholy mood was oppressive, even for him. Others, although a much smaller number, actually celebrated. Not for the death of "Naruto the Hero" as some had taken to calling him posthumously, but for the death of the Kyuubi. Kakashi supposed they were somewhat right to celebrate. It wasn't every day a being of pure energy and manifestation of hatred was destroyed.

It was only when the two groups clashed that things became a problem. The mourners believed that the celebrators were not sufficiently upset about the death of Naruto the Hero, while the celebrators believed that the mourners were not sufficiently happy that Naruto had succeeded in the mission given the him by the Fourth. Protecting his people from a grave threat.

They were both partially right. Kakashi had heard both sides of the arguments multiple times while having to defuse rather heated debates on multiple occasions. Battlelines had been drawn, but he knew no actual battles would ensue. Thankfully both sides had come to the conclusion that a civil war in the village that Naruto the Hero had died serving would only disgrace his memory.

"Kakashi-san," A voice spoke from behind him. Turning away from the Memorial Stone he saw a genin looking up at him. He couldn't tell if it was the same one he had sent to fetch Tsunade that first night, or if the many similar genin that had been sent to fetch him where simply blurring together in his mind. "Kakashi-san, there's another altercation at the south gate," the boy said with a tense bow.

With a rather forced eye-smile Kakashi nodded to him. "Of course, I'll be right there," he said, allowing the boy to stand back up and return to the Hokage Tower. Kakashi began to lazily jump from rooftop to rooftop on his way to the gate. He had taken on a rather bizarre role lately. He was the sensei that trained the traitor Uchiha and taught him the technique used to kill Naruto, the Hero. He was also the sensei that trained Naruto, and had cared for him when the village had not. He had expected people to hate him. He had hoped they would praise him. Instead, they pitied him, and that only made things worse. Tsunade was using this role of his to help diffuse any situations as they arose. He hadn't slept in days.

"All right then, what's happening now." Kakashi sighed as he landed between two arguing figures just inside the south gate.

UN:PoA

"What the hell happened here?" Tsunade didn't so much as flinch at the accusatory tone that came from the window of her office. "I take an extra week to check on some contacts in my spy network, and now Naruto's dead and the village is poised to tear itself apart."

"Sasuke betrayed the village for Orochimaru, and Naruto was killed trying to get him back. I told everyone about his parents, and that he was jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." Tsunade replied to her white haired teammate nonchalantly, taking another shot of sake.

"How did this happen?" Jiraiya asked, stepping into the office. "How did Orochimaru get a hold of Sasuke?"

"Sasuke went willingly, and was escorted out by some of Orochimaru's most trusted lieutenants. I sent Naruto and a ragtag team of genin, and one chuunin, after them at Naruto's request. Each of them barely survived, with Naruto being killed by Sasuke at The Valley of the End."

"The cursed seal couldn't have driven him to do something like that. Anko hasn't shown any signs of wanting to betray the village." Jiraiya scratched his chin as he processed this new information. "Did any of these lieutenants survive for questioning?"

"No."

Jiraiya turned to look at Tsunade, before immediately forgetting what he was going to say. She was a mess. Black eyeliner smearing down her cheeks, in a clear tear-stained pattern. Her hair was a disheveled nest of tangled strands. What made it worse was that her face was completely calm and her eyes were dry. No sign of the obvious grief that had put her in this state. Meaning it had happened a while ago, and she hadn't bothered to clean herself up. Couple that with the frankly irrational way she had announced the situation to the village. From his report, she was taking this worse than when Dan died.

"Are you ok?" He asked lamely, not sure how to proceed. He was a legendary super pervert, not a grief counselor.

"No," She answered back in a flat tone before leaning back into her chair. "but I'm better than I was. I finally collapsed a couple days after Naruto's burial, and Shizune has done wonders in calming me down. I was already running on fumes trying to help the Akimichi boy and the others when the news of Naruto's death came in. If I could go back and redo my actions with a more level head, I would have revealed Naruto's parentage much more..." She paused, searching for a word. "diplomatically."

She had definitely gone over the top. Calling a village wide meeting of both shinobi and civilian alike had been out of line. Not to mention her rather theatrical delivery of the information. She had seen the way Kakashi looked at her throughout the event, and it was a testament to the man's unwavering loyalty that he hadn't lost all faith in her because of her actions. Although maybe he did, and was simply very good at hiding it. His loyalty must feel especially strained now with how she was running him ragged. She simply didn't trust anyone else to handle any Naruto related flare-ups with a level head. Particularly when ninja were involved. Some of these arguments were reaching an almost religious level of zeal. She had wanted the village to share in her pain, not destroy itself.

"But you would have still told them?" Jiraiya asked, interrupting her brief introspection.

"Yes, I would have done it after Naruto was buried though. To put him on display like I did, Naruto he-" She paused again, taking another shot of lukewarm sake. "he didn't deserve that." She finished before gripping the necklace that once again rested around her neck. Wordlessly sending Naruto an apology in the afterlife.

"I think it's already time that I retire Jiraiya." She said, abruptly changing the topic. "This place was barely tolerable with Naruto here, and now that he's gone it's unbearable. Every time-" The clang of her sake dish breaking on the floor after being dropped by shaking hands filled the room. Taking a deep breath to calm herself like Shizune kept reminding her, Tsunade fought back tears. "Every time I go to sleep I feel Dan laying next to me, I see Nawiki whenever I give a mission to a genin, and now I hear Naruto laughing and calling me old with every gust of wind. I can't stay here Jiraiya. I just can't."

The Toad Sage walked around the desk and placed a hand on his Kage's shoulder. "Have Shikaku handle the logistics of the village, get Iruka to hand out missions to the genin, and take some time off with Shizune. Once you feel ready, you two can look through Jounin and ANBU profiles and decide who you think is the best fit for Hokage." He said simply with a smile that somehow managed to not look forced. "Everything will be ok, Tsunade-hime." He whispered before standing up and walking towards the window again.

"What will you do?" She asked with a sniff.

"I'm gonna go snake hunting." He replied coolly before jumping out and onto the street.

UN:PoA

Naruto scrunched his face. His chest hurt like hell. On the bright side, whatever hospital bed he was in sure was comfortable. Opening his eyes finally he saw… nothing. It was pitch black. Trying to sit up didn't do him any good either, as he immediately hit his head on something soft. Blinking several times he wriggled around trying to find out exactly where he was. It was some kind of padded box or something. With a deep frown he started knocking on the roof of the box.

"Very funny, but you can let me out now!" He shouted. He was a prankster but even he didn't prank people in the hospital. "Hello?"

…

…

…

"Helloooo~?"

UN:PoA

Author's Notes

If you're wondering why this chapter feels rushed, that's because it is. I needed to set up a LOT of things as a sort of prologue before I can get to the good stuff, and I decided that rather than spending chapter after chapter going into detail, I would try shifting from scene to scene with a few convenient little time skips to make things move smoothly. I hate the way I made Tsunade act, but think of it like ripping off a bandaid. Best to get it over with and tear it off all at once instead of doing it slowly and extending the pain. I promise her theatrics will stop and her grief fueled insanity will mellow out as we go.

Some of you may notice that I added a Namikaze estate and put "her safe harbor" on Minato's tombstone. That's because I wanted the graves to be anonymous and "her yellow flash" wouldn't be very low profile. Minato means "harbor" in japanese (at least according to the wiki,) and with Kushina coming from the land of whirlpools I liked the idea that she would refer to him as the safe harbor she went to after fleeing the storm. If you're bothered by that kind of stuff then stop reading here. I plan on making many more ever so convenient little alterations to canon as I go. Don't worry I'm not going to go full AU and make Sasuke and Naruto fight in giant robots over who gets to marry Fem!Goku and adopt Harry Potter or something, just make a few tweaks that I think improve the story.

As for the name of the fic, I don't know, it just kind of came to me. Naruto is the last known Uzumaki (for now,) and thereby head of the clan. I always imagined the Uzumaki to be a patriarchal clan that were like a less evil, more well-rounded version of the Hyuuga. Rigid and grounded in pragmatism, but willing to joke and bend the rules occasionally. After all, you don't become fuinjutsu masters by taking an "eat, pray, love" approach to things. You work yourself to the bone and let off steam in your down time. I like to think of the Uzumaki as a bunch of engineering students working for PhDs that prank each other when things get too tense.

On a different topic, most of my author's notes won't be this long either, so don't worry.


	2. Flowers of Fate

Chapter 2: Flowers of Fate.

Naruto had continued to knock for what felt like an hour or so before shouting out. He had gotten a major headache about 15 minutes ago and he was losing his patience. "Ok! I know you think you're funny, but you can either open the box now or I'll break it open!" There had been no response _again,_ so he began to formulate his plan. There was no way he could rasengan his way out; there was barely enough room for him in this box so there definitely wasn't enough for him to create a clone to help him mold the chakra. Why did his signature move have to be based almost solely on molding chakra? He hated molding chakra! Luckily whoever had replaced his torn jacket had left his kunai filled leg pouch untouched. He got a nasty cramp in his side with how he had to bend in order to reach them, but managed to pull one out before beginning the tedious job of carving his way out. It wouldn't take too long, the wood couldn't be more than an inch or so thick, he would be out in a few minutes.

Or at least, he would have if he hadn't immediately received a face full of dirt once he broke through the wood. Shaking his face to get as much off as he could, he blinked several times. Okay, so he wasn't just in a box, he was in a box _and_ underground. That wasn't exactly the news he had been hoping for. Not to mention that his headache was just getting worse. With a determined frown Naruto began to dig through the dirt with his kunai. The throbbing in his head only drove him to push faster. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible and yell at whoever had thought it would be funny to bury him alive. He had known there were people that didn't like him because of the Kyuubi, but it had never escalated this far before. It was mostly just rude stares and being ignored. Of course, if Mizuki had been willing to steal the scroll of forbidden techniques and kill him to make a quick getaway, then he assumed there were probably others with similar ideas. Still, to kidnap him from the hospital and bury him alive? That was was just weird. They should have at least killed him _before_ burying him; that's what a ninja would have done, and he doubted anyone but a ninja could have kidnapped him from the hospital.

He highly doubted Sasuke would have buried him alive after he passed out. That just wasn't his style. Where would he have gotten the casket from anyway? So that meant that someone must have found him and brought him to Konoha hospital. Only for someone else to kidnap him while unconscious and bury him alive in a perfectly good casket.

Now _that_ was a story to tell the grandkids. If he ever had grandkids. If Sakura didn't kill him for not bringing Sasuke back. Oh man, just the thought of talking to her after getting knocked out by Sasuke was giving him anxiety. He had promised to bring back Sasuke and failed catastrophically. He had considered justifying it as, 'I promised to bring him back, but never specified when. I can just keep trying to bring him back until the promise is fulfilled!' but knew it wouldn't convince her. Heck it didn't even convince him. Sasuke would be considered a full-blown missing-nin now. Sakura would never talk to him again, and he had officially broken his nindo. So that sucked.

On the bright side though, he thought he was almost through all the dirt. With every patch of dirt that landed on his face he would shake it off, before shaking and kicking it down to the bottom of the coffin. After about 15 minutes his head felt like it was about to explode, and he had filled up the entirety of the coffin with dirt. Luckily, the dirt was clay-y and kinda wet so it didn't collapse on top of him. Clay-y? Was that a word? Whatever, dig now, worry about that stuff later. Oh man he was gonna' kill whoever buried him. Not literally, but he was gonna' yell at them a lot and maybe paint their house neon orange or something. Tsunade might kill them though, for like, treason and stuff. That would have to be after taking something for this headache. Holy cow, whatever painkiller they had given him at the hospital was _definitely_ wearing off, all his muscles felt like they were on fire and he was getting lightheaded from the pain as he dug.

_Finally,_ after another 15 minutes he broke through and crawled out to lay on the sweet dew covered grass nearby. He had heard the phrase 'six feet under' before, but hadn't figured they would have literally buried him six feet under. Maybe it was supposed to be irony or something? He didn't care right now, he was too busy sucking in as much air into his lungs as he could, and his pain started to fade. Oh, the painkiller wasn't wearing off, he had been suffocating to death… cool.

Finally opening his eyes after taking his time to recoup any lost oxygen, he noticed that the sky was particularly beautiful. You couldn't see the stars like this in the village because of all the light pollution. Usually, he only saw it on long missions outside of the village when they had to camp out. Lifting the kunai up to look at it in the light, he frowned and threw it aside. It was completely dulled and some of the edges were starting to chip. It's true they were meant to be mostly disposable, but that was still like 500 ryo down the drain.

The birds started chirping and he decided it was time to get up. Nature was calling to him. Not the birds, he had to pee. Smirking to himself at his internal joke he stood up and walked over to the edge of the property. Once relieved, he turned around to look at his would-be grave with a little more detail. It was quite a sight. There were flowers laid out all around his grave and a small but ornate gravestone. The house nearby looked like it was halfway through some major renovations. The whole thing looked like it had been power-washed and there was that smell in the air that said 'this paint may not look fresh, but if you touch it you'll get it all over your hands.'

So someone had kidnapped him, and buried him alive behind their house? That was dumb. Not to mention they had buried him next to their parents or something. He looked at the two older gravestones next to where he had been buried. Something about harbors and peppers? He didn't know what that was about. Looking to what was _supposed_ to be his gravestone he read what was written.

Here lies

Uzumaki Naruto

Son of

Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina

Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi

and

Hero of Konohagakure.

…

…

…

"Ok, what the fuck?"

UN:PoA

Hiashi was pleased. After he dragged the still sobbing Hinata home from the announcement that the Naruto boy had died he tossed her into her room, rather unceremoniously too. He had refused to let her watch the burial, or rather, he had refused to carry her to the burial and she hadn't been in any condition to go by herself.

The first day almost the entire house had to listen to her wail late into the night. 'She just lost her friend.' Hiashi had told himself, 'Give her a day to grieve.'

And a day she had gotten. He swore to himself that if he had heard so much as a sniffle from her room the next day he would go in their personally. Only no sounds came. That had actually made him rather nervous. Just as he was about to go and check on her though, she came out, grabbed a large glass of water from the kitchen, and then she returned to her room. She had her own indoor plumbing, as was only fitting for an heiress, and a bookshelf. So, all she needed to leave her room for was food, water, and training. Kurenai had given their whole team a week off to mourn, so she had nowhere else to be. While he hadn't seen her get any food, his parental concern had been assuaged and he returned to his study.

The 3rd day is when she had surprised him. She come out of her room, fully kitted out, as if she was preparing for a mission and walked into the rear courtyard. Using his Byakugan to keep an eye on her from in his study was a simple task. She had walked right up to a nearby chuunin of the branch family and looked up at him. "Fight me." She had said simply. Hiashi's eyes had widened from shock alone. A bit of an overreaction considering he didn't have any rational reason to do so. That had been surprising, but not overly so. She had just spent two days in her room and had no team duties., She was probably just working out some energy and frustrations.

The man had looked at Hinata like she had grown a second head but simply bowed and gave the appropriate, "Yes, Hinata-hime." before dropping into the juuken stance. He began first, giving her an agonizingly slow strike that was obviously meant to be blocked. She slapped his hand away and looked at him with an angry frown. "I didn't say 'pity me,' I said '_fight me_!'" She growled. Hiashi had to consciously prevent himself from turning his head to look at Hinata. If the chuunin had looked at Hinata like she had a second head before, then she must have appeared to have 3 heads, 16 arms, and a Sharingan at this point.

"Yes Hinata-hime, forgive me." He said with another deep bow. Hiashi put his pen down so he could actively watch his daughter. What followed was 10 minutes of her barely surviving. He frowned deeply to himself, wondering what he had been expecting. A small group had gathered around the fight by that point. None of them made it outwardly obvious that they were watching, they just so happen to be eating their meal nearby, facing away at an angle, and with their Byakugan active.

After Hinata had collapsed and vomited slightly, the chuunin dropped his guard completely. He bowed again and made to walk away before Hinata stood back up. "Again," she said simply, looking at the man as he tried to turn away. He stopped and turned to her, again bowing. "Hinata-hime, I don't think that's a good idea. You should rest, and if you want, you can come to me again. We can always train together lat- AHHHH!" He let out a blood curdling scream, collapsing forward. While he had been trying to help her save face, Hinata had shaped her hand in a familiar sign, letting out a quiet "Hya." as she did. Hiashi couldn't restrain himself this time, his head snapping to face his daughter like he had been an everyday civilian.

She had never used the caged-bird seal before. Hinata spat out a mass of bloody phlegm before speaking. "I _said…_ again!" She shouted before charging at the man. In his shock the chuunin had managed to let Hinata get a few strikes in while he recovered, before leaping back and re-dedicating himself to the fight. "Y-yes Hinata-hime!" The watching crowd made themselves scarce after that.

Hiashi's frown had turned into a loving smile. If he had known his death would have had this kind of affect on his daughter, he would have killed the Uzumaki child himself years ago. Fourth Hokage be damned.

UN:PoA

Naruto had been pacing for at least 10 minutes. "Ok so," He began, talking to one of his clones. "Either this 'prankster' has one of the worst senses of humor in the world, and was willing to let loose an S-class secret for the sake of his joke, or when I had been retrieved I was in such a bad state that everyone had assumed I was dead, buried me, and revealed I am the apparent child of The Fourth Hokage to the world." Naruto collapsed backwards onto one of the piles of flowers. "So now what?" He asked the clone

"I dunno man, I'm you remember?" The clone responded. The real Naruto looked at him with squinty eyes. "You're no help, why did I even make you?" The clone sighed. "You _said_, it was to bounce ideas off of me, but we both knew that wouldn't work. You're just scared that you're actually a ghost and the Shinigami is gonna sneak up behind you, so you want me to watch your back."

It was the real Naruto's turn to sigh now, he definitely wasn't a ghost. Ghosts didn't need to breath or dig out of caskets. The clone was just trying to scare him. "I mean, if I go back then they're gonna think I'm undead or something. Or some jerk that's just pretending to be me. Or like, 11 other different things that could end really badly for me… us." he amended after a moment.

"Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do instead? Run away? That's not part of our nindo." The clone countered.

"You mean the nindo we broke the second we let Sasuke get away?" Naruto countered in return. "Just think what Sakura will do to us when she realizes that not only did we not get Sasuke back, but we let her think we were dead for who knows how long? We might _actually_ die after that."

"Good point. I suppose we could- Oh gods you were right! The Shinigami! He's right behind you!" The clone shouted, eyes wide in terror.

"What!?" The real Naruto jumped up and turned around, only to hear a loud "HA!" behind him and a poof as the clone dismissed itself. He couldn't blame it; it had thought it was funny, and now he kinda did too. Wait, why would he think it was funny too?

Naruto frowned to himself before deciding to file that question under the 'interesting, but not important right now' part of his brain. That was a really big part. He'd have to go through there one of these days. There were probably those weird cockroaches in there. Maybe that's why his mind looked like a sewer whenever he saw the Kyuubi. There was a leak in that room he never checked out.

Swallowing hard, Naruto did what any sensible ninja would do. He picked up one of the flowers that was left for him and started picking off the petals. One by one.

"I leave..."

"I stay..."

"I leave..."

"I stay..."

"I leave..."

UN:PoA

"What now?" Kakashi sighed at the genin that had just knocked on his door. He had finally managed to get a bit of sleep, when he was woken up a whopping 2 hours after his head hit the pillow. He was going to have an aneurysm at this point.

"S-Sir, Hokage-sama has requested your prescience in the Hokage Tower immediately. I apologize for any inconvenience." The young girl stuttered. So this one _definitely_ wasn't the same boy he had sent to get the Hokage. Unless he was henged and Kakashi was just too tired to be able to tell.

No, that was just the lack of sleep talking. There was no demon genin that had nothing better to do than bug him. At least not anymore. _'Wow, ok,' _Kakashi thought to himself_. 'Screw you too, brain.'_ Standing tall Kakashi patted the girl on the top of her head. "It's fine, it's not your fault. Take your time getting back. I'm on my way." He said, trying to be extra kind to make up for his rather cruel greeting earlier.

Locking the door behind him, he jumped on top of his place's roof and began to journey towards the Hokage Tower. He could have sworn he heard a henge pop behind him as he jumped away, but convinced himself he was hearing things.

UN:PoA

"Are you sure he's the best candidate?" Shizune asked her mentor. "What if the villagers freak out? He hasn't gotten a psych evaluation since Naruto's death. What if he's not stable?"

"Then, they can rot in hell. He's the best jounin for the job right now, despite his current situation. I don't want to spend the next two weeks here looking through profiles just to pick him anyway. Besides," Tsunade continued. "I'm not exactly stable right now either. Do you really think I'd do a better job of keeping this place together than him? I'm drinking _way_ too much and if I don't do those breathing exercises every 30 minutes or so, it feels like my brain will melt. Hell, I'm the one who grades most of those psych evaluations and I wouldn't even pass myself at this point."

Shizune looked like she was about to argue but there was a sudden knock at the door. That was odd, they had expected Kakashi to come in through the window. "Enter." Tsunade spoke with all the dignity and authority that she could muster.

Kakashi walked into the room slowly. There was a rather dark bag under his one eye, and Shizune noted to herself that he was giving off an eerily similar vibe to the one that Tsunade had given before she collapsed a few days ago. Shizune had gotten her to take a shower and clean herself up, but she was still wearing the black robe and had trouble sleeping.

Kakashi bowed deeply in an unusually serious mood. He stayed bowed down for perhaps a few seconds too long before sighing a, "Hokage-sama." and standing back up.

"Are you ok, Kakashi-san?" Tsunade immediately asked, 'doctor mode' taking over. "You don't look well. Please, sit."

"Moderate to severe sleep deprivation, causing mild audio-visual hallucinations. Minor chest pain, and loss of appetite, possibly unrelated but unlikely" He said stoically, giving a rather spot-on self diagnosis. He gave her an eye-smile before taking the offered seat. "Nothing compared to my time in ANBU though. I'll be fine."

"I see." She began to give a slightly worried frown. "Tell me Kakashi, are you loyal to Konoha?" She asked, changing the subject.

Kakashi barely managed to stop himself from raising his eyebrow. He hadn't expected that. He knew there was a good chance he would be questioned. After all, he was the sensei to the Traitor Uchiha. But, he figured it would have happened within the first few days after his return. When it didn't, he assumed they either didn't question his loyalty or they were too busy. It made sense though. Run him ragged with constant small missions and then question him when he had his guard lowered. "Yes ma'am," he answered quickly, perhaps _too_ quickly, but he hoped not. It was true; the thought of defection hadn't occurred to him once. This was his home. It was all he had.

"I see, you have been run down lately, and I'm partially to blame for that. I apologize." Tsunade began. "I have put you through a lot, and so soon after the death of one of your students. I must ask though, how much more would you go through for Konoha?"

"I would die for her ma'am." He replied instantly. It was also true. He loved this place. From the hot summer days to the cool winter nights. From the Hokage Monument to the Memorial Stone. He loved all of it, even the parts that made him sad.

"Good, good." Tsunade said, nodding slowly. She looked at him in his one eye and stared at him in the way that only a Kage could. "Then I have a mission for you, a mission of such grave importance that I dare not give it to anyone else. I know you are tired, but don't worry, you'll have some time to rest and prepare for this mission, should you choose to accept it."

Kakashi paused, but nodded. So it was a suicide mission, not a questioning of his loyalty. It wasn't a big deal, he had gone through many supposed suicide missions during the war with Iwa. Not to mention his time in black ops. "Of course, ma'am. Anything for Konoha," he said, although there was something in the back of his head that told him he was forgetting something.

Tsunade smiled and nodded as well. "Very good, Kakashi, I was hoping you'd say that, but perhaps you should hear what the mission is before accepting it." She stood and took her hat off her desk. Walking over to him she held it out for him to take. "You mission is to take up the position of Hokage, and protect Konoha and her people from all enemies, foreign and domestic."

His eye widened. He looked at the hat. He had always thought he would look cool in it, ever since Minato-sensei had taken up the position of Fourth Hokage. He had never actually wanted to wear it though, at least not seriously. He reached a shaky hand up to take the hat from Tsunade. He couldn't tell if he was shaking because he was nervous, excited, or if it was from the sleep deprivation. He held it in his lap and looked at it.

"Hokage-sama, if you are sure in your decision I would be honored to-" He paused… oh yeah, _that's_ what he had forgotten. "I can't."

Tsunade and Shizune both raised their eyebrows in shock. "I'm sorry, what? Why not?" Tsunade asked, trying to not look upset.

"I'm still a jounin sensei. I have a duty to Haruno Sakura. I can't leave her. I can't abandon her after everything she's already been through." He explained. Holding the hat back out to his Kage.

Tsunade frowned deeply. She wasn't proud to admit it, but she had forgotten the Haruno girl had existed all together. She was a rather sub-par shinobi, all things considered. "Are you sure about this? If you turn this down, I can't guarantee that I won't find someone else. This could be a one-time offer," she explained.

Kakashi nodded. "I'm sure. I can't just-" He paused. "After Obito and Rin died, Minato-sensei was all I had. If he had left me behind, I would have-" He paused again, fighting back emotions he had buried long ago. He had always considered his father a coward for taking his own life. After Rin's death however, he had been feeling rather 'cowardly' himself. If Minato-sensei hadn't been there for him… He may have been Hokage at the time, but Minato was till very much his sensei, and he didn't know if he was capable of doing both like Minato had. "I can't leave her." he said simply. As though he had just commented that the sky was blue.

Tsunade nodded slowly, she saw something in Kakashi that she had seen in herself. At this point, Sakura was to Kakashi, as Naruto was to her. For some reason he had pinned his hopes to a small, stupid, fragile child just like she had. She wouldn't take her away from him. Not to mention that he probably subconsciously saw a bit of Rin in Sakura. She hadn't gone too in-depth on the reports, but knew that Rin hadn't taken the death of Obito well. The report she read said it was suicide, and she had used Kakashi to do the deed.

Taking the hat back from his grasp she nodded. "Very well, I understand. However, I would ask you not tell anyone about this. The last thing I need is a bunch of power hungry jounin vying for-" Tsunade paused. Looking down at Kakashi. His eye was closed and there was a very subtle snoring sound coming from him. He truly was a good man. It's a shame he wouldn't take the hat.

UN:PoA

Naruto rubbed his chest as he frowned. It was odd, it didn't really hurt that bad anymore, but it just felt weird. Like, his ribs were all squishy and bendy, not hard like they should be.

"Ok, so I guess I'm leaving." Naruto said to himself. Tossing the last rose onto the ground. That was the 7th rose out of the last 7 roses that had he had ended with "I leave." as he plucked the final petal. Naruto looked out into the distance. He could just _barely_ make out Konoha in the distance. With a nod of his head, he decided to go in the opposite direction. East? Just as he took his first step away from everything he had ever known he paused, and turned back. Not to face the village, but the graves of his supposed parents. It just felt _wrong_ to not do something. Walking back so he was facing the gravestones, he bowed. "I know we never met, and I know you sealed a demon inside me, but thank you for bringing me into this world. I wish things had been different...mom...dad." He whispered before standing up straight. Without another word he took his hitai-ate off and dropped it on his 'grave.'

Naruto picked up the kunai that he had dropped, he had the feeling he was going to need every bit of equipment he could get. Especially if he couldn't go to his apartment and grab his mission bag. It was funny, this whole fiasco had begun with him trying to prevent Sasuke from leaving the village. Now he was doing the same, albeit for different reasons. Stretching out and giving one last look at his home Naruto nodded to himself. This was oddly freeing, like taking your shoes off after a long day. Cracking his neck Naruto turned away from Konoha and began running east. He didn't know where he was going, just that he needed to go somewhere that wasn't here.

UN:PoA

Author's notes:

"HINATA WOULD NEVER DO THAT!" I hear you say. You're right, the Hinata you knew wouldn't have, but the Hinata you knew died when she saw Naruto's corpse. If you're obsessed with someone to the point that you stalk and borderline worship them, and then that person dies? You're going to go through some changes. In most people the change would not be this sudden, or this severe, but Hinata's hero was killed, and she was unable to see him buried because she was too weak. Granted there was no way she could have reasonably been expected to fight off her father, but when you're already mentally unstable and grieving? Things like "logic" and "reason" start to matter less and less.

As some of you may have noticed, Naruto is kind of acting as comic relief right now. That's how I've always kind of seen Naruto. Even in a shit situation he makes light of it, not because he wants to, but because he doesn't know what else to do. I promise you though that Naruto will be more "spider-man" and less "deadpool" if that makes sense.

I also decided to stick with the current "jumping from scene to scene" format for the foreseeable future. I had originally planned on basically splitting each of these scenes up into different chapters, but have now decided that scene jumping is much more convenient and I don't have to write the boring "in between" moments where nothing is happening.

One of my reviewers asked if Naruto was buried alive, or if he was actually dead and resurrected. Let me be 100% clear here. Naruto was dead. He had no heart. There was no brain activity. By all reasonable metrics he would be considered dead. That being said, Naruto THINKS that he was buried alive. After all, people don't just come back from the dead, right?

And last but not least, I forgot to mention my beta in my last chapter. PartHistory. He's trying to teach me to use google docs (I usually just use libreoffice,) so if there are any hiccups with the uploads it's not that he's a bad beta, it's that I have no idea what the duck I'm doing.

Also look at me, breaking last chapter's promise on shorter author's notes. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to find a new nindo :^)


	3. Responsible Adult

Chapter 3: Responsible Adult

Kakashi felt like a new man. It was amazing what 14 hours of sleep could do for the chronically conscious. He had been rather embarrassed when Shizune woke him up after his impromptu nap, the Hokage having gone to tell Shikaku that his services would be required longer than she had expected. After an apology, and a short bow, he had made his way back home where he resumed his previously interrupted rest. The sun was still out when he fell back to sleep, but he figured he deserved to be able to relax with everything that had been happening lately.

After taking his morning shower the next day, Kakashi had decided to give himself a bit of a break. Setting out to get himself a proper breakfast rather than the ration bars he usually ate. Taking time to de-stress was one of the often-overlooked parts of maintaining your ability to perform in the field. Taking his time to walk to a nearby restaurant. He looked at the specials that were plastered on the windows near the entrance.

Oh, the miso soup was on sale, that would be nice. They even had salt-broiled saury. His favorite! Stepping into the restaurant Kakashi was seated by a kind waitress and quickly placed his order. Leaning back in his comfortable chair he looked out the window and watched as shinobi and civilian alike walked the streets. Occasionally sipping on some of the complementary tea as he did. All without anyone see his face of course.

Yes, Kakashi had needed a break, and this was most definitely good for him. Taking time off to take care of your own needs was a very responsible thing to do. That's all he was doing, taking some time to collect himself. He most certainly _wasn't_ trying to postpone the inevitable discussion he would have to have with Sakura later. Nope... not at all.

UN:PoA

Sasuke was growing impatient. He had been promised power, training, techniques, and knowledge. He had assumed he would be taking up a place as Orochimaru's apprentice, or at least one of his top pupils. Instead he was treated even more delicately than he had been while in Konoha. It was like all of these Oto ninjas had been told that he was Orochimaru's prized chihuahua, that also just so happen to be made out of equal parts glass and pressure-sensitive gunpowder. He hadn't even seen Orochimaru yet, having been told he had been "previously engaged" before Sasuke could show up. Whatever the hell that meant.

The Oto base he was located in was rather large, especially considering it wasn't even part of Otogakure proper. In fact, it was a bit north of Otogakure. Meaning, he had been ushered _past_ where Orochimaru was currently located so that he could wait in a base while the snake sannin finished whatever business was keeping him. The layout of the base was a simple cross shape that was nestled against a mountain, with the northern tip of the cross going into the mountain. He had been given free rein over the entirety of the eastern and southern wings of the complex. There was plenty to do. A sizable cafeteria for him to eat at. Several libraries filled with everything from historical manuscripts to the fundamentals of chakra theory. There was even a training ground for him to practice in.

If he had wanted public libraries and empty training grounds, he could have stayed in Konoha. He didn't betray his home and brutally murder the closest thing he could call a friend just for a change of scenery. He was tempted to test the Mangekyo but didn't dare use it without good cause.

After unlocking the Mangekyo Sharingan a sort of instinctual knowledge on what he could do with it had entered his mind. Along with the risks associated. Suddenly, he knew that with Kagutsuchi in his right eye he could manipulate and even extinguish the flames of the Amaterasu that came from his left eye. With the Mangekyo active in both eyes he could create the chakra manifestation Susanoo. It would be weak at first, but would grow stronger the longer he had these eyes. He also knew that with every use of a Mangekyo technique his eyesight would deteriorate until he eventually went blind.

The idea that the use of the Mangekyo would inevitably leave him permanently blinded was worrying. He had to ration his use of it as much as possible, use it only as an absolute last resort. He needed to postpone the loss of his eyesight. At least until he could kill Itachi.

UN:PoA

The sensation of wind blowing past his bare forehead felt strange. Naruto had worn his hitai-ate almost constantly after Iruka had given it to him. Running outside without it, he almost felt more naked than if he had been wearing nothing at all. He would have to find something to put on his forehead. Oh, what if he got one with horns like Jiraiya had! That'd be so sweet! Except instead of the word 'oil' on the front he would put something super cool. He didn't know what it was gonna be yet, but he knew it was gonna be _awesome_.

He was making good time; not that he was trying that hard. He highly doubted anyone would try to track down someone they had buried. His grave had been recently dug, so no one should notice that a bit of dirt was out of place. Of course, he _had_ left his old hitai-ate there like an idiot. It had seemed like the right idea at the time. He wasn't planning on staying in the Land of Fire, and he didn't want anyone to start asking questions about the lone Konoha ninja wandering around. Looking back though he should have done something other than leave the thing on the ground. Maybe he should have buried it? That sounded like a symbolic type thing to do. He would have just had to think of what it symbolized later.

Naruto's introspection was cut short however when a branch broke under his weight. "Shit!" he cursed before righting himself instinctively. Landing on the mucky soil beneath the canopy. The trees had begun to thin out a few miles back, and he had to make riskier and riskier jumps in order to stay off the forest floor. He would have to travel on the ground for now. It was a little slower, but not a big deal.

A slight growl emanated from Naruto's stomach as he resumed his run. He hadn't eaten anything since before he left to get Sasuke, and no one had thought to pack a bento for his trip to the grave. Slowing to a stop, Naruto rummaged around his pockets. His jacket was empty, whoever swapped his old one out having neglected to replace any gear. His pants were a similar situation. Although he hoped no one had changed those while he was unconscious.

He still had four kunai in his pouch, about a dozen shuriken, and a few yards of ninja wire. He may be hungry, alone, and penniless, but he was a ninja dang it! He would use what little gear he had to trap a mighty beast that would feed him for days! Future generations would tell the tale of Uzumaki Naruto, the great hunter!

Naruto's stomach growled again; this time much louder. "I could really go for some ramen right about now." He mumbled to himself as he began setting his snares.

UN:PoA

Sakura rolled around on her bed. Her parents were both out on missions for a while, so she had no reason to try to act normal today. Ino had come by earlier in the week and talked at her for a while. Saying things about how stupid they were for letting Sasuke get between them, how they were still best friends and Sakura could go to her for anything. Generic 'I'm sorry your world fell apart' nonsense. She had heard many such speeches since Naruto died. Various friends and family that told her to stay strong, that she could make it through this, etc. etc.

How had no-one seen what she had done? She had killed him, she had killed 'Naruto the Hero.' She was just as much to blame for his death as Sasuke, if not more so. She had been so stupid, so childish. All she had cared about was getting her crush back, regardless of the threat to her teammate. Her teammate that had secretly been protecting her from a threat so large that even the Fourth Hokage couldn't destroy it.

The revelation that Naruto had been carrying the Kyuubi inside him since birth shed a new light on every interaction they shared. He had held that hidden pain with joy as he declared that he wanted to become Hokage. Saving thousands of lives every day with his mere existence wasn't enough for him, he wanted to save even more. He held a power that could destroy entire nations and found pleasure in the simple joy of eating cheap ramen and pulling harmless pranks. If he had revealed his pedigree and duty as jinchuuriki, he would have had full grown women fawning over him. Instead, he had sent love letters to a neurotic, flat-chested idiot with a large forehead because she had been nice to him once. How had she gotten everything so _backwards?_

Sakura sat up in bed when she heard a knock at the door. This couldn't be right. Her parents weren't supposed to be back for days and she had made plenty of excuses to keep other guests away. Part of her didn't want to answer the door, to pretend that she hadn't heard anything and go back to her moping.

Another knock on the door told her that hiding wasn't an option. With great effort she managed to pull herself out of bed and put some clothes on that looked halfway decent. Taking her time to walk down the stairs she ran her fingers through her hair. It was tangled and slightly greasy, she hadn't showered in a day or two.

Brushing her hair with her fingers to look at least half-way presentable she opened the door. Cocking her head to the side she saw the tall lanky figure of her old sensei. "Kakashi-san?" She asked, dropping the -sensei for a -san; assuming team 7 had been dissolved after the other two thirds were dead or gone. What was Kakashi doing here? Unless he was here to give her paperwork on when she would be reassigned. Although that didn't seem right. Why get a jounin to deliver paperwork?

Sakura frowned. There was no way she could handle being placed on another team. It felt like a betrayal to Naruto, and oddly enough to that bastard Sasuke as well. She would have to resign. She could guilt-trip Ino into giving her a job at her family's flower shop and live out the rest of her life as a civilian. The only reason she had tried so hard to become a kunoichi to begin with was to get closer to Sasuke, and now the idea of being close to him wasn't very appealing.

Kakashi looked Sakura up and down. She was a bit of a mess, but he had actually been expecting worse. He would still have his work cut out for him though. Squatting down to her level he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her the most sincere eye-smile he could. Reaching into his pocket with his spare hand Kakashi pulled out a single bell and held it out for Sakura to take. Reaching her hand out she took it. "Meet me at training ground 3 tomorrow at 8AM. I won't be late. We can talk more then," He whispered before standing and walking away.

UN:PoA

Naruto sat back and picked the last bit of meat off the bone of his freshly cooked squirrel. He had been hoping for a rabbit or two, but this would suffice. After setting a few snares he only managed to catch a single squirrel, and the thing had thrashed around, tangling his ninja wire beyond hope. He still had about 2 yards worth of the stuff, but he would have to get to civilization soon. Although, the question remained of how he would make money once he got there.

He highly doubted that the Land of Hot Springs would accept a lone, villageless genin to contract their missions out too. Unless he got extremely lucky, there was no hope in him finding a stable living situation in Hot Springs. Even the smaller nations weren't exactly keen on taking in and training mysterious children that refused to answer questions on why they were there. What would he say? 'I ran away from my village because they all think I'm dead? I'm too scared to go back and let everyone know that I failed what was probably my most important mission of my life? Oh yeah, and it turns out my dad was the Fourth Hokage, and now everyone knows I have a demon inside me? A demon that would like nothing more than to be let out and eat every one of us.' Oh yeah, that'd turn out just swell.

Throwing the last of the bones into the fire Naruto wiped the grease off his lips. Squirrel tasted fine, but he wished there was more of it. A single squirrel wasn't exactly capable of filling him up. He was a growing boy and needed his protein. Unless ramen was an option, in which case screw protein give him those sweet, noodly carbs!

Taking his jacket off, Naruto bunched it up into a makeshift pillow and leaned back on it as the fire began to dwindle. Tomorrow was a new day, and he really hoped it would be better than the last.

UN:PoA

True to his word, Kakashi had arrived on time to the meeting spot. 8AM sharp. Strangely, at least to him, it was Sakura that was late, around 15 minutes so. Kakashi decide not to bring it up. Although, Sakura did look a little shocked when she saw that Kakashi was waiting on her.

"Good morning," Kakashi greeted, forcing a smile on behind his mask. Sakura had made herself much more presentable compared to yesterday. "I have plenty of ideas for your training, but first I want to test your abilities and how you've improved since the chuunin exam." He explained, jumping off of the post he had been waiting on. "Do you still have the bell I gave you yesterday?"

Sakura nodded and dug the little bell out of her pocket, holding it in her hand. "Kakashi-san," Sakura paused, not sure how he would respond to her next words. "I appreciate you deciding to continue training me, but I don't believe that will be necessary. After thinking about it more last night, I've decided to resign. I've decided that being a ninja isn't for me."

"No." Kakashi said. Direct, and serious. His smile dropping. "As your jounin sensei, all resignation requests must first be approved by me before being further approved by the Hokage. I refuse your resignation."

"What? Kakashi-san-"

"Kakashi-sensei." The jounin corrected.

"I'm not cut out to be a ninja!" She continued, heedless of his interruption. "I'm just a genin, and I've already killed one teammate and driven another to treason! I'm great at paperwork, but I can't handle being a kunoichi!"

Kakashi cocked his head to the side. It was amazing how the world appeared to revolve around you when you were younger. "Do you really believe that? That you're the sole reason Sasuke betrayed the village, or that Naruto went after him?" He asked rhetorically. "Sasuke has been fighting his demons since his family was killed. No actions you did or didn't take would've changed that. Besides 'my teammate annoyed me' isn't a viable excuse for treason and murder."

Sakura frowned at that. True, Sasuke had been fighting a losing war with his childhood since she knew him, but there was still a sliver of a chance that if she had behaved differently it would have turned out better.

"What about Naruto?" She began, deciding to drop the earlier line of reasoning, knowing she wouldn't be able to convince Kakashi. "I begged him to bring Sasuke back, I made him _promise_ to bring Sasuke back. If I hadn't done that, then he might still be alive. I took advantage of his feelings for me, and now he's dead because it!"

"Do you honestly believe that Naruto wouldn't have gone after Sasuke if he hadn't promised to bring Sasuke back? Yes, keeping his promises was a major part of Naruto's nindo, but he saw Sasuke as a brother; you couldn't have stopped him from going after Sasuke if you tried." Kakashi explained before stepping forward and placing a comforting hand on Sakura's head. "Sakura, I'm not going to lie and pretend that you can go back to the way things were before Sasuke left. You're a new person now, your experiences have shaped you. Every day we wake up a different person than the one we were before we went to sleep. If you truly want to honor Naruto's memory, than take the pain you've felt and make it a part of you. Use it to drive yourself to be a new, better Sakura. Will you let Naruto's death mean nothing? Just a footnote in a history book? Or will you grow, and carry his dreams for him?"

Sakura was fighting back tears, but she could feel her resolve grow to match them. Her burden was still heavy. She would bear it. She would kill her old self. The weak, lovestruck child that thought about nothing but boys and popularity. She would rise anew with the sun and face her challenges head on. To do anything less would be to disgrace Naruto's memory. It would make Sasuke right about Konoha. It would make Sasuke right about her. Her head hurt. She had been whipping back and forth between extreme emotions since Sasuke left, and it seemed like only now was she finding a reasonable place to settle in the middle.

"So, now that you're a new person, I think a new introduction is in order." Kakashi took his hand off of Sakura's head and sat cross-legged on the grass.  
"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like many things and dislike many more, but I can't stand those who betray their friends or themselves. My dream it to finish training my student, and protect Konoha until I am no longer needed."

Sakura nodded at his introduction. It was much more sincere than the first time he 'introduced' himself. She took a deep breath. She would do it, she would rise above what Sasuke had done to her and carry on, just like Naruto would have. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like relaxing with a book on warm summer days. I dislike traitors and being weak. My dream is to-" She paused. No, it wasn't a dream, it was a duty. "I _will_ carry on Naruto's dream. I _will_ become Hokage."

Maybe 'a reasonable place to settle in the middle' hadn't been completely accurate. To pick up Naruto's torch and attempt to become Hokage was its own type of extreme, but it was one she could live with.

'_I won't forget you Naruto.'_ Sakura thought to herself, _'I still blame myself for your death, but I won't let it be in vain. I'll become Hokage, just like you would have if it weren't for me. I'll make this village a better place. A place you would have been proud to call home.'_

Kakashi smirked at her declaration. He hadn't expected that. She was still young though, and had all the time in the world to adjust her dreams as she went. He didn't know if she had what it took to become Hokage, but he would help her try. He clapped, standing up. "Now then, about that test. You have a bell; I want it. Your job it to keep it from me. No trick answers this time. I'm genuinely going to try and get that bell, and you're going to try to stop that from happening. Ready? Go!"

UN:PoA

Author's note

I feel like I should apologize. In the last chapter I had Hiashi say that he would have killed Naruto himself if he had known that it would have had this effect on Hinata. My beta said he felt Hiashi should be more conflicted, and a review said something along similar lines. I was very tired at the time and figured I had simply misjudged how my intentions would come across and decided to add in the line "He laughed softly to himself, his dark sense of humor getting the better of him." Thinking that would clarify it. It didn't, and probably only made things more confusing. So I have decided to remove that line and will explain further here.

Hiashi would NOT have actually killed Naruto in order to make Hinata stronger. However, he is in no way saddened at his death and sees it as a net positive. He wouldn't have killed Naruto because it would be, frankly, stupid to commit treason and kill a leaf genin just to potentially strengthen his family's heir. Even if he had hired an outside village to kill Naruto on a mission away, the potential threat to him and his clan would have been unacceptable. So no, Hiashi would not have killed Naruto. He's just not upset about it. Instead focusing on how he can use his death to help push Hinata.

Moving on to this chapter however!

You'll Notice that Sakura was in a rather deep funk. She's been beating herself up relentlessly over how she asked Naruto to go after Sasuke. The whiplash of "Naruto killed Sasuke! That asshole!" to "Actually Naruto's dead and it's my fault" had thrown her entirely off balance. The fact that the entire village has basically began to deify Naruto isn't helping either. You know those people that worry and worry and work themselves into a lather? That's Sakura. However, now that she's out of that cycle, she'll be better. I should also address some of the things she thought. No, if Naruto had somehow figured out his parentage and revealed he was the son of the Fourth Hokage, odds are he would not have had grown women going after him. Sakura is just beating herself up and having a pity party.

Some reviewers have started asking about pairings. I'm not going to lie, I haven't put a lot of thought into pairings. Once the people of Konoha learn that Naruto is still alive (which is WAY down the line.) I expect Sakura and Hinata to have a bit of a tiff over who gets "dibs" on Naruto. That is unless someone else steals his heart while he's away~

Some have complained that Naruto leaving is illogical, you're right. Naruto is basically in denial and operating on pure instinct. His entire world has been turned on its head and he's scared, and what's the first thing you think of when you're scared? "Run away!" Just like a kid that tries to run away from home, Naruto put no thought into what he would do once he actually, y'know, LEFT. He thinks he can't go back. Now he has to deal with his questionable choices.

My beta asked how Sasuke already knew so much about the Mangekyo, so I figured I would preemptively explain here for others that are also confused. I'm making it so that once someone activates the mangekyo, they have an instinctual understanding of it. I figured it would make sense for that to be the case considering everyone with the mangekyo has different abilities. For example: canonically speaking Itachi can use Tsukuyomi, but Sasuke can't. Even though they both had the mangekyo. The only reasonable way that I can imagine any Mangekyo users know about their apparently randomized powers is if the knowledge comes inherent with the Mangekyo's awakening. I'm just fudging canon a bit and saying that knowledge about the fact that use of the Mangekyo will deteriorate one's eyesight is instinctual as well.

Others have asked why Naruto didn't henge in order to check out what was going on in Konoha. Guys, Konoha is probably the most heavily fortified area in all of the Land of Fire. Do you really think a genin's henge would be enough to trick an entire population of ninjas? Henge may be useful for tricking civilians or infiltrating bandit camps, but not much beyond that. Tsunade has an apparently unique form of henge that she can maintain "without exerting any effort, even while injured or asleep" according to the wiki. However, Naruto only knows the basic academy version. Something that requires chakra usage and could therefore be felt by any ninja worth his salt. If a guard noticed a henged individual trying to sneak into a what is essentially a military base, it's gonna cause some problems. Naruto is brash, thickheaded, and runs on instinct more often than not, but he's not stupid.


	4. Shall Not Be Infringed

Chapter 4: Shall Not Be Infringed

Greedily inhaling the oxygen from the mask held in front of him by Kabuto, Orochimaru gasped in pain. He had waited until the last possible moment to switch bodies, hoping that Sasuke would arrive before his previous body expired. Alas, the boy had come too late. This transfer was the worst one he'd gone through yet. Whether that was because of his arms, or because he had waited too long to perform the transplant was unknown.

His predicament after Hiruzen sealed the "soul" of his arms into the Shinigami was fascinating. His arms had begun to rot after the sealing, as though they had a mind of their own and simply lost the will to live. His heart beat, but the blood in his arms simply refused to function. No matter how much he had increased his circulation through the use of various drugs, his arms continued to decay. Even with the aid of his ever-faithful Kabuto, the progression had refused to waver.

The stench and disability had been manageable. However, the constant infections had worried him. He had taken the strongest antibiotics available, but they could only do so much when your cardiovascular system was directly attached to rotting, necrotic tissue. Kabuto had informed him that the infection had reached his heart, and had begun to spread to his brain as well. If he didn't switch bodies when he did, he would have died. He didn't plan on dying, ever.

Orochimaru leaned back from the mask that was held to his face and looked down at the pale skin of his arms. His current body was taken from an Oto chuunin that had been quite a specimen. She had dedicated herself fully to the art of taijutsu, spending little effort to work and grow her chakra network. This made it exceptionally easy for him to uproot her soul, and supplant it with his own. It also meant that the usual physical augmentations he applied to his hosts had been even more effective than usual. He would need all the help he could get in the physical aspects of being a ninja, particularly with the use of his ninjutsu hampered as it was.

He was capable of moving his arms again, yet there was no sensation. No, that wasn't true, he could feel them move, but he couldn't connect the sensation to any form of context in his mind. It was a bizarre form of synesthesia that he had never experienced before. He could tell by his charts that for all intents and purposes he was now a perfectly healthy 23 year old woman. Yet when it came to moving his arms it felt like he was swimming in some kind of thick syrup. The movement was entirely conscious, there was no _instinct _behind his actions.

"Status report." Orochimaru whispered with a hoarse voice towards his assistant.

"Sasuke arrived at Otogakure while you were mid-transfer." Kabuto began, "I diverted his escort to base 33 and ordered them to treat him as an S-class guest until such a time that you could collect him personally. Yesterday's report says he is growing restless. You were unconscious for over 5 days Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto took a breath before continuing. "Several of our double agents inside Jiraiya's spy network have gone missing, while the ones that still manage to report to us are sending in contradictory and nebulous information. We are unaware if they are compromised as well, or if Jiraiya is feeding false information to all his agents as chaff in an attempt to disorient the entire system."

Kabuto paused after his report. "There was also a bit of information I picked up when conversing with Uchiha-san's escort. Although, it may be inaccurate."  
"Continue," The Snake Sannin spoke.

"It appears as though Sasuke has awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."

Orochimaru stood quickly, fumbling a little. He wasn't used to having breasts, he would have to have them removed later.

"Orochimaru-sama!" Kabuto interrupted. "Please, remain seated! Your soul has only just taken hold inside your host, you are still weak!"

"I'm strong enough to greet my new pupil, Kabu-" Orochimaru began, before a rush of vertigo overtook him and he stumbled forward. He tried to bring his hands up to catch his fall, but they didn't react and he landed flat on his face.

"Orochimaru-sama!" Kabuto shouted before turning to a nearby guard. "Bring me a syringe of norepinephrine now!"

"That won't be necessary, Kabuto." Orochimaru spoke calmly into the tile floor. Finally, after making the conscious effort of which individual muscles to tense and relax in his arms, he managed to push himself off the floor. "I am merely still getting used to this body. There is no need to worry."

Getting to his feet Orochimaru sighed, looking down at his breasts. "Although perhaps you are right, and one more day of rest won't hurt. Prepare the operating room. I wish to be rid of these fatty lumps."

UN:PoA

Naruto tried to look inconspicuous as he explored. He had managed to find a small port town just on the inside of the border of Hot Springs after another day and a half of travel. It was large enough that there was a chance that he could find some work, but small and out of the way enough that the odds of running into a Konoha-nin was unlikely.

The town's name was Shiokiri, and it appeared as though it's primary purpose was as a sort of transport hub between the lands of Fire, Lightning, and Water. Particularly for purposes of trading mainland goods for the various fish that inhabited the reefs of the Land of Water. Watching the dockworkers go about their business was rather fascinating actually. Naruto had never known that tuna were that large. He only ever got the cheap cans that he liked to mix into his ramen when he wanted to feel fancy. The smell of seawater and fish filled the dense fog that covered the town as Naruto watched the dockworkers move crates of goods about.

"Hey, kid!" A voice shouted from nearby, startling Naruto with how he hadn't managed to notice the burly man that was walking towards him. He was just under 6 feet tall and had a gut that would put Tsunade's bosom to shame. It looked like all the hair on his head had decided to migrate down to his chin. Leaving a shiny scalp with a greasy, wiry beard. "You lost or something? Where are you parents?"

A concerned adult? Naruto could use this.

"They're dead, sir." Naruto said, playing up the sadness just enough to make the man pity him, but not enough that he felt like an asshole for doing it. The best kinds of lies were the ones that were half-true. He still wasn't sure how he felt about suddenly knowing his father was the Fourth Hokage, but it wasn't exactly like the revelation made him any less of an orphan. "I came into town looking for work. My last job... fell through, and I figured there might be something available here. I know some basic ninja skills and I can work longer hours than you'd think. Do you know of anything available? Please sir, I need the money."

"Your last job 'fell through,' _and_ you know ninja skills?" The man stood taller, sucking his gut in slightly and looking at Naruto incredulously. "You're not a missing-nin are you? I won't turn you in, but I don't want no trouble with the law neither."

Naruto shook his head. "No I was-" _'assumed dead and buried alive'_ "discharged for medical reasons." Or at least he _thought _he was assumed dead. That or someone tried to kill him for not bringing Sasuke back. He didn't think the second option was very likely, however waking up in a casket had this funny side-effect of making him slightly more paranoid.

"Oh?" The man spoke, softening his voice slightly. "What hidden-village were you a part of then, boy?"

Naruto tried not to frown. He hadn't expected to be grilled like this. He should have spent some time preparing a new persona or something. As it was, he was just bluffing and hoping for the best. "I was an Oto-nin, sir." He said. He couldn't say he was from Konoha. That would be idiotic, and he didn't know enough about the hidden-village in Hot Springs to be able to act as though he had been a ninja there. Otogakure was a newer village, and therefor shrouded in mystery. He didn't know much about how it functioned, and was hoping that this man didn't either.

The man scrunched his face, as though he had just smelled something nasty. "Otogakure? Aren't those the fuckers that attacked Konoha? I get a lotta business from Fire, and I don't want no Fire merchant jipping me on prices because he found out I hired someone from Oto."

_Shit_, Hot Springs and Fire were allied, he should have known that calling himself an Oto-nin would have looked bad. "I wasn't a part of their nin-corp during that sir. I had nothing to do with it. Besides, I told you I'm not an active Oto-nin, and no one will recognize me as one so long as you don't tell them. I won't cause any trouble with anyone from the Land of Fire. I just need a job." Naruto flashed a smile and held his hands up in a mock surrender pose. Trying to appear as non-threatening as possible.

A twinkle of sadness entered the man's eyes as he looked at what he assumed was another forgotten dredge of a war-torn world. In a way, he was right. "What's your name, boy?" He asked.

_'You didn't think of a name!?' _Naruto internally screamed._ 'How the __fuck__ did you not think of a name!?'_ "Uzumaki Haku, sir." Naruto said, silently praying that Haku wouldn't haunt him for stealing his name.

"Haku? Ain't that a girl's name?"

"It's complicated."

The man scratched his beard and nodded. "Name's Tamamono Hige. Guess I'm your boss now. Get to work moving those crates from dock 13 into warehouse 11, and I'll watch you. None of that ninja magic though. I don't need you drawing attention. I'll pay you whatever I think you're worth at the end of the day, understood?"

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief. He hoped it looked like he was happy for a job and not that he was happy he didn't just blow his identity to the first person he'd talked to since leaving Konoha. With a big smile and a thumbs-up Naruto looked at his new boss.

"Yes sir, Hige-san! I'm on it!"

UN:PoA

Kurenai had chosen to ease back into training with her team after Naruto's death. Kiba had been suitably shaken to learn that Naruto was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, claiming he would have 'helped carry the burden' had he known Naruto had 'such a badass duty.' He somehow managed to straddle the line between celebrating the death of the Kyuubi, and mourning Naruto's death without overly offending either side.

Shino was as stoic as ever. Not mentioning Naruto unless he had already been brought up in a conversation. Although, he now exclusively referred to him as 'Naruto the Hero' like many others had begun to do as well. He didn't show it outwardly, but Kurenai knew the similarities between Naruto being a Jinchuuriki and the Aburame clan's use of their kikaichu had struck a chord with him.

They were both shaken, of course, but they would manage. Kids were resilient like that, especially when they're also trained killers.

Hinata though... After seeing her breakdown at the sight of Naruto's body Kurenai had expected the already fragile Hyuuga to become a puddle of anxiety and tears. Hinata never spoke much with the rest of her team, but when she did speak it was almost always about Naruto. The girl's infatuation with the boy had been obvious. In fact, it was a testament to Naruto's stunted social skills that he had never figured it out for himself.

Instead of showing up to their meeting a sobbing mess however, Hinata had walked in tall, head held high with a broad smile, and covered in bruises. She knew it wasn't her place to interfere with clan politics, but the sight of the dark purple welts that littered Hinata's ivory skin was enough to make Kurenai see red. She kept up the charade as long as she could, told them all that she was planning on slowly increasing their training due to 'recent events.' She came up with an exercise for Kiba and Shino to practice. It was essentially a glorified game of tag that would have them running about in the woods far from her and Hinata.

Once they were out of sight Kurenai whirled on Hinata and got to her knees. "Hinata-chan," She began, quickly pulling the girl into a brief hug before holding her back to look her in the eyes. Gently taking one of her arms, Kurenai pulled back on Hinata's sleeve, revealing more bruising. "Your father, did he do this to you? He's gone too far Hinata, we can petition the Hokage, we can-"

"He didn't hurt me, Kurenai-sensei." Hinata answered quickly, her usual stutter was gone. "I've been sparring with several chuunin and jounin of the branch-house." She explained, as though she had just won the lottery.

"Jounin?" Kurenai asked, "Hinata, you're still a genin! You should be training with your peers or learning from your sensei. I gave you and the rest of your team specific instructions to rest during your break, not pick fights you can't win."  
"I need to get stronger." Hinata justified, pointedly avoiding eye contact with her sensei.

"Everyone does." Kurenai shook her head. "That doesn't justify getting yourself hurt like this. There are safer ways to train."

"I don't have time to waste, I need to hurry." Hinata tried to deflect.

"Hinata-chan, you're barely 13." Kurenai explained. "You have plenty of time to get stronger."

A long pause filled the air. Hinata's excuses had been thin and flimsy and they both knew it. Kurenai waited for the next excuse, when one didn't come she made to continue, but Hinata spoke first.

"I never told him I loved him," Hinata whispered, tears welling in her lilac eyes. Her smile dropping as they threatened to spill over.

"What?"

"I… I never told him I loved him. N-naruto-kun died. Alone. Thinking no one cared for him. Thinking no one loved him. I loved him. I should have told him. I should have been there for him, but I was scared. I don't even know what I was scared of, but I was scared. So, I let him suffer. I let him wallow in loneliness because I was too much of a coward to tell him I loved him. Even if he didn't love me back, I could have been his friend. I could have been _something_." Hinata's whole body shook. Tears fell down her cheeks; no matter how hard she tried to stop them from coming. Her words slurred together as she spoke. "Naruto suffered, every day to protect me and the rest of the village from the Kyuubi. He died, cold and alone, never knowing what it feels like to be loved and it's _my fault_!"

Hinata collapsed into her sensei's arms, finally surrendering to the emotions she had been suppressing. She had tried. She had tried to put on a brave face, just like Naruto would have. She had tried so very hard, but she wasn't Naruto. She would never be Naruto.

Kurenai held the sobbing girl in her arms, looking out into the treeline she saw Kiba and Shino watching. Kurenai shook her head subtly, and they nodded back, returning home for the rest of the day.

"I never even got to see his grave..." Hinata whispered.

"The renovations on the Namikaze estate finish today," Kurenai whispered soothingly as she rubbed Hinata's back. "We could go visit Naruto tomorrow if you want, and you can tell him that you loved him."

"… I think I'd like that, sensei."

UN:PoA

Author's Notes

Oof, lot of emotion in that last segment. I hope I wrote it well. I didn't want it to be too long, or too short. Hinata has a lot of baggage, and I don't want to unpack it, just air it out a little.

I have gotten further questions about why Naruto didn't use a henge to sneak into Konoha, so I will talk more about it here and then I'm dropping the issue.

1) Henge is classified as an E-class ninjutsu, NOT a genjutsu. It is a physical transformation technique, NOT an illusion. In chapter 75 Naruto uses a NORMAL HENGE to transform into Akamaru and bite Kiba. No one freaks out about this, it's perfectly normal. In chapter 76 Akamaru (A PUPPY) uses a henge to turn himself into a copy of Kiba, and then fights Naruto.

2) Sasuke was able to tell that Naruto had henged into a fuma shuriken during the Wave Arc, and he was just a genin. This was mid-combat with two upper-level jounin throwing ninjutsu back and forth. Henges can be detected if you're perceptive enough, and military guards would be.

3) As I stated in chapter 1 of this fic, Naruto was buried OUTSIDE the village walls, and would have had to single-handedly infiltrate a village full of ninja to gather intel or to retrieve supplies; a village that just had the "Last Uchiha" go rogue for Orochimaru, the leader of a known terrorist-state. They would be on high alert, and would have caught Naruto instantly.

I'm not a wise sage of all things Naruto. There _will_ be mistakes in this fic. I just don't think this is one of them. If you still disagree with my logic then just categorize this under "The author is fudging canon for his fic."


	5. The Calm

Chapter Five: The Calm

Sasuke awoke to a metallic knocking sound. "Sasuke-san, Orochimaru-sama has arrived and is requesting your presence in training room delta," he heard the stranger through his steel door.

Looking over to the alarm clock, he saw that it was almost noon. He had been sleeping in later and later since he wasn't really able to train. "I'll be right there!" he shouted to the door, unsure if the man that had delivered the message to him was waiting for a response or not.

Quickly getting dressed, Sasuke left the room. It was about time the snake sannin showed up. The days had started to blur together in his head, but he was pretty sure it had been over a week since he defected from Konoha. He had already questioned his decision before, and with every day that he was effectively held prisoner here, his doubts only grew.

Making his way down the concrete hallways of the eastern wing, Sasuke approached the training room he had claimed as his own. The urge to move had taken him over a few days ago and he had begun training solo. With nothing else to do, he worked until he could work no more, falling to exhaustion every night.

Sasuke entered through the open door to training room delta, inside he spotted 3 figures. He recognized Orochimaru, and Kabuto who stood beside him, but the snake sannin looked different than Sasuke remembered him: he was slightly shorter, and his hips were slightly wider as well. To the side though, stood a girl he didn't recognize. She appeared to be about his age, with long pinkish-red hair, a pair of black glasses, and eyes that matched her hair color almost perfectly.

"Sasuke-kun!" Orochimaru smiled, noticing the young Uchiha and greeting him in an uncannily warm manner. "It's so good to see you. I apologize for my tardiness: I was preoccupied with some village matters in Otogakure when you arrived, and I wanted to make sure you were kept somewhere safe. Konoha has not taken your defection lightly, and although they are moving to infiltrate Oto with their spies, Base 33 is new and does not exist on paper. You will be safe here, for the foreseeable future."

Sasuke remained expressionless, pondering the new information. "Of course, Orochimaru-sama. You had other duties to attend to, I understand. I eagerly await our future training now that you are available," he said, a small chill running up his spine as he added the -sama suffix to Orochimaru's name. This man wanted to steal his body, but he had to maintain the facade of politeness no matter how upset he was about Orochimaru's end-goals or his tardiness.

"Who's she?" Sasuke asked directly and bluntly, gesturing to the red-headed girl with his head. There was something about her that felt familiar somehow.

"This is Uzumaki Karin," Orochimaru began, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I will be teaching you directly whenever available. However if I am called away on more village business, Karin will serve as your training partner. You are technically her superior, but she knows much, and can be a useful aid if you require assistance with anything while I'm unavailable."

"I see." Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as he swallowed hard. She was an Uzumaki? The hair and eyes were completely different, but her face? There was definitely a resemblance to Naruto. She could have claimed to be Naruto's long-lost sister and he would have believed her.

"You've already met Kabuto," Orochimaru continued. "He is one of my most trusted operatives. However, today he is here because of his medical expertise. I was hoping you could activate your Sharingan and allow him to run some diagnostics on you. Merely as a precaution, I assure you."

Sasuke did as he was told, activating his Sharingan. Immediately the subtleties of the world unveiled themselves to him. He could see every heartbeat in the slight staccato vibrations of the clothing on their chests. He could see the dust motes in the air rush to fill Karin's lungs when she gasped. Kabuto hands, raising to the sides of his head with their pale green glow, moved agonizingly slowly.

Orochimaru's mouth drew into a smile, and Sasuke could detect the minute contractions of each muscle fiber like a tsunami across the skin of the man's face. "I see the rumor was accurate, and you have awoken the Mangekyo Sharingan."

"What do you know about the Mangekyo?" Sasuke asked as Kabuto's chakra infused hands rested against his temples.

"Only that it is the ultimate evolution of the Sharingan, and that it's continued use will cause blindness in the wielder. I know also that it gives you access to the Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, and your Susanoo."

"Not Tsukuyomi," Sasuke corrected as Kabuto took his hands away. "Each Mangekyo is unique. I can create unquenchable flames with Amaterasu, like Itachi, but I can also extinguish them with Kagutsuchi."

"I see, so the name Amaterasu refers to the technique used to create the flames, not the flames themselves? Interesting." Orochimaru spoke ponderously as Sasuke deactivated his eyes. "You know much about your new abilities even though I received no news of you using them yet. How is that?"

"This knowledge comes intrinsically with the activation of the Mangekyo," Sasuke spoke and noted that Kabuto was taking an awful lot of notes for someone that was just doing a precautionary analysis.

"Fascinating. Do you believe you could break Itachi's Tsukuyomi with your new eyes?" Orochimaru asked, the faintest hint of excitement crossing into his voice.

"I know it's possible now, but whether or not I currently have the strength to do so I can't say."

"Then it appears as though you were destined to avenge your clan, Sasuke. You can counter not one, but both of Itachi's Mangekyo techniques with your own. I'm sure with time, your Susanoo will grow beyond his as well." Orochimaru said, stroking Sasuke's ego. "Tell me though, I never learned how the Mangekyo is awakened. How did you do it?"

Sasuke stiffened slightly. He hadn't realized his abilities were so perfectly matched against Itachi's. "That's a clan secret, I'm afraid."

Orochimaru's uncanny smile didn't budge. "Understandable, Sasuke-kun, but you can't blame an old scientist for being curious. Hehehe." Orchimaru's smile dropped as he turned to Kabuto. "Well, what did you learn?"

"Sasuke-kun is in great condition," Kabuto answered. "and, there is no degradation detected in his eyes. He's a perfectly healthy ninja in every sense."

Orochimaru's smile returned, although this time its uncanny nature was increased ten-fold. "Good. Well then, Sasuke-kun, before we begin your training, let's assess where you currently stand. Attack me with everything you have. Although, I'll have to ask you to refrain from using your Mangekyo techniques. They ares to be used only as a last resort in a life-threatening situation, understood? Karin, you will observe Sasuke-kun's combat style and think of ways you can mold your own around it, understood?"

"Y-yes, Orochimaru-sama." The girl said with a deep bow and a nervous adjustment of her glasses, speaking for the first time since Sasuke came into the room.

"Very well, Sasuke, you may begin whenev-" Orochimaru suddenly had to jump aside to avoid a fireball that was hurtling towards him. He chuckled to himself. He couldn't wait until he could transfer bodies again.

UN:PoA

"I'm rich!" Naruto shouted into the air as he received his payment. A full 8,000 ryo, just for him! Hige smiled at the boy's reaction and shook his head. That was double what he got yesterday. Although, admittedly, he hadn't started working until halfway through the day yesterday.

"You work your ass off, Haku-san," Hige started "You carried almost as much as some of my best workers. I swear, you ninja are a different breed. Almost makes me wish my parents had trained _me_ to kill since birth, ha!"

Naruto just smiled at the man. "Thanks, Hige-san! I try my best. Say, what time should I show up tomorrow? There weren't any hours posted on the board like yesterday."

Hige frowned a little. "About that, with your help we finished earlier than we thought. We don't need to stay in port any longer, we're heading out to Kiri to buy some more fish while they're still in season. The demand for sea trout has gone way up recently and I can't sit on my laurels doing nothing. Something big is brewing in Kiri and I need to get as much business done before they start to rip each other apart."

"Oh… so you're leaving?" Naruto asked, trying not to sound hurt. He had already begun to consider Hige a friend. He was a little sad to see the large man go.

Hige shrugged. "I mean, unless you want to live on a boat for a month and a half, then yeah. I can't ask a kid to live the sea-life though."

"I can go!" Naruto said quickly. "I still need the money, and it's not like I'm sticking around here for any reason in particular. How much will you pay me to go?"

"20,000 ryo a day. We're talking 14 hour days though, Haku." Hige warned.

"I'll be fine! I've gone through worse!" Naruto explained, his eyes seeing nothing but ryo signs. "C'mon, please let me go? Please, please, please!"

Hige just chuckled and shook his head. "Alright, Haku, but if you complain too much we're gonna make you walk the plank! Ha!" He laughed loudly, slapping Naruto on the back. "We'll meet here at 8:45am. Food will be provided, but everything else is on you, ok?"

Naruto nodded, still getting used to his new name. "Yep, I'll be there!" He shouted as he ran off to buy some supplies with his newest paycheck. He was so excited he almost forgot that everyone in Konoha thought he was dead. Almost.

Suddenly, Naruto wasn't feeling as happy as he was a minute ago. He didn't feel particularly bad, but something told him he shouldn't be so happy. Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to get enough equipment to last for a journey to Kiri and back.

Looking down at his clothes he frowned. He liked his orange jacket and pants, but they weren't exactly low profile. He also needed more kunai, shuriken, ninja wire, and other stuff. Naruto walked into the market district and looked around to see if their were any ninja supply stores. They were littered all over Konoha, but he couldn't manage to find one here. Although, he supposed that made sense. Konoha was a village specifically _for_ ninja, while Shiokiri was a port town. He spotted a man wearing a hitai-ate bearing the symbol of Yugakure and decided to ask him for directions.

"Hey, Ninja-san, can I ask you a question?" Naruto asked, waving the man down.

"I'm pretty sure you just did. Haha!" Naruto frowned, and the man simply laughed harder at his reaction before calming down. "Yes, of course, go ahead. Sorry, just a little joke."

"I was wondering if there were any ninja supply stores nearby, even surplus would work!" Naruto asked, trying to appear cute. It totally worked.

"Ninja supply store? What do you need one of those for? You're too old to start training for the academy, and no offense but you're exactly not ninja material." The man asked.

"I'm gonna go help my friend do some work in Kiri." Naruto explained trying not to get upset that the man didn't think he was 'ninja material.' He was Uzumaki Naruto! He was the_ definition_ of 'ninja material.' "Even if the odds are against me, I'd rather have a small chance than no chance at all."

The man shook his head and sighed. "I wish you civilians would just stick to safe zones; it's hard to protect you when you insist on running away." He turned and pointed down the street. "See that alley? Walk down there until you see Mizuhana-san's shop. It's got anything military related; not just ninja supplies, but samurai supplies and other stuff as well."

Naruto smiled and shouted, "Thank you Ninja-san!" with a smile as he ran down the alley the man had pointed to. Sure enough, at the very end was a run-down shop with the words 'Ms. Mizuhana's Menagerie of Miscellaneous Materiel!' sloppily painted above the door.

UN:PoA

Sakura wretched as she leaned against a tree. Another spewing stream of her previous meal shot from her mouth and onto the roots. Why was it always carrots? She didn't remember eating carrots. She didn't even like carrots. Her hair stuck to her face, drenched in sweat. After failing to defend the bell from Kakashi he had told her he was going to whip her into shape. He hadn't been kidding. Apparently she had been lacking in all major aspects of being a ninja. Her taijutsu was pathetic, her ninjutsu was non-existent, and while she had potential in genjutsu she didn't actually know any yet.

The absolute thrashing she had received from Kakashi had served as a wake-up call almost as loud as the death of Naruto. Sasuke had mastered an A-rank assassination ninjutsu and several fire techniques. Naruto could create so many shadow clones he could have been considered a literal army of one. Sakura? She was a decent aim with her shuriken and kunai.

With Naruto and Sasuke gone, it was just her and Kakashi during their training sessions, meaning she got his full and undivided attention. This was a bit of a blessing and a curse. She would happily admit that with a dedicated sensei and her new motivation, she was learning much faster than she had before. However, he never let her slack; no breaks, full-steam until you're out. This wasn't the first time he had worked her until she puked.

Opening her eyes she saw a water bottle being held out to her. "Rinse your mouth out and take a sip." Kakashi said with a smile. Sakura nodded in return.

"Y-yes, sensei." She panted after taking her drink. "W-what's the plan now?"

"Now? You go home and rest. You're out of steam and pushing you until you break won't make you any stronger or any faster. Your body will slowly adapt to the new strain we're putting on it. Your chakra control is amazing and you would be a great medi-nin, but I only know the basics of medical jutsu. So, I'm going to teach you some first aid. Later, I'll see if I can convince Kurenai to teach you a little something about genjutsu."

Sakura nodded "Yeah." She muttered. She knew that her response didn't make sense given what Kakashi had said, but she was too tired to figure out why and fix it. She stepped away from her puke and leaned against another nearby tree, breathing deeply with her belly to try and slow her heart rate down.

"Good!" Kakashi smiled and pulled out a book, handing it to Sakura. "I want you to read up to chapter 3 by tomorrow. We can practice more then, ok?"

Sakura nodded. She didn't want to complain, but she was pretty out of it and her head was swimming.

Kakashi placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "I know I'm working you hard. I don't want you to get discouraged. I promise it'll be worth it in the end. Why don't I take you out to lunch; my treat? We can meet up in an hour at that new dango shop? That'll give you time to cool off and clean up."

Sakura smiled at Kakashi. He had become much more sincere in his interactions with her since Naruto's death. She winced subconsciously. Naruto being gone still hurt. Sometimes, she expected him to just waltz into the training ground, apologizing for being late and bugging Kakashi for new ninjutsu.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura brushed her hair out of her face. "Can we get ramen instead, please?"

UN:PoA

Once inside the store, Naruto immediately began to question his life choices. The place smelled like old people and vapor-rub. It had a song playing on loop over the tinny loudspeakers that he could only describe as 'bad elevator music.' The bright florescent lights shone so bright they hurt his eyes, and the grayish white tiles were covered in a dusty grime that indicated the place hadn't been mopped for a while. Turning to his left he saw a little old woman reading what looked like an old magazine that had aged almost as poorly as she had. On the cover it read 'Top 20 Tips to Great Sex With Your Man! You Won't _BELIEVE_ Number 12!'

"Umm, excuse me?" Naruto asked, trying to get her attention while wondering what kind of bizarre hellscape he had entered.

Without a word the woman, whom he assumed was Ms. Mizuhana, pointed a dark wrinkly finger to a sign on her counter that said 'Please Ring Bell for Service.' Naruto squinted at the woman but did as she suggested and rung the bell.

"Whaaaaat?" she asked loudly, drawing out her word as she put her decrepit magazine down to look at Naruto.

"I, uh, I was looking for the kunai?" Naruto asked.

"Whaaaaat?" She asked again

"_I was looking for the kunai_!" Naruto said loudly for the woman, assuming she was hard of hearing before she hit him on the head with her magazine.

"No need to yell!" She shouted, before going back to reading her magazine. "Ninja gear is aisle one, samurai gear is aisle two, and everything else is aisles three through five."

"Oh, thanks?" Naruto replied, rubbing the top of his head. The woman didn't say anything, simply pointing to the sign again. "Uhh, never mind."

Naruto grabbed a basket and went immediately to aisle one. He needed kunai and ninja wire. He wanted to check out the other aisles, but only if he had enough money leftover. Walking down the aisle he kept an eye open for what he needed while trying to ignore anything he didn't need. He knew he didn't _need_ a chrome-plated fuma shuriken, but he _really_ wanted one.

Finally he found a bin of kunai, they were slightly longer and thinner than what he was used to and they would need to be sharpened, but they would work. They were 800 ryo a piece, a little pricey, but doable. He grabbed 4 of them and placed them in his bag before searching for the ninja wire. Thankfully the price on that was much more reasonable, 100 feet of medium-grade wire for 1,000 ryo. That would be more than enough for now.

So, 4,000 ryo for the kunai, 1,000 for the wire, and the 1,200 he had already spent on food. So he had just under 6,000 ryo for whatever he wanted. That wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Naruto left the ninja gear aisle and went to look for some clothes in the other aisles. The _last_ thing he wanted to look like right now was a ninja.

Holy _shit! Was _that a sword with_ nine blades!_

_ 'No, Focus!' _Naruto berated himself. He should be used to shopping with thrift. It wasn't like he was rich back in Konoha. It just felt harder than normal for some reason._ 'Clothes first, awesome swords later.'_

He continued to look for clothes before finally finding them on aisle 5. They were all pretty generic looking. Though, he supposed that's exactly what he _should_ be looking for. He grabbed two dark brown button-up shirts that were made out of a canvas-like material, and a pair of cargo pants that were dark green. Together they came to 4,800 ryo. Damn, he only had 1,000 ryo left. That would probably only be enough for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow. The food here wasn't as expensive as it was in Konoha, but it still wasn't cheap.

Naruto returned to the counter and placed his items on top. The woman pointed to the sign again. Sighing loudly he rang the bell.

"Whaaaat?"

"Can we skip this, and you can just check me out?" Naruto said, cutting the interaction short.

Ms. Mizuhana frowned. "Kids these days, all business, not letting their elders have any fun." She grumbled as she checked him out. After paying, Naruto got out of the shop and out of town as quickly as possible.

Once he arrived at his 'base camp' outside of town he quickly took his jacket off and tossed it aside. He rubbed his chest subconsciously. It didn't hurt, and the weird bendy-rib sensation had gone away, but he still found himself rubbing it occasionally, just to check and make sure it was still there.

His camp consisted of a fire pit, a small pile of squirrel bones, and some wrappers from the food he got the other day. It wasn't much, but he would rather sleep under the trees than on the streets. Changing quickly into his new clothes Naruto lamented to realize he forgot to buy underwear. He would have to manage somehow until he got back from his trip to Kiri however; he couldn't afford breakfast _and_ clean underpants.

UN:PoA

Hinata shook as she around at the Namikaze house. The home had been converted into a sort of miniature museum. The main floor was dedicated to the Yondaime and his wife, while the top floor was filled with information on Naruto. Hinata held great respect for the Fourth Hokage, but she went straight to the top floor. There were several plaques with small snippets of information hanging on the walls. Below them were pictures of Naruto or pieces of something he owned.

Hinata began at the first plaque:

Uzumaki Naruto, son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, was born October 10th 67KG. On the night of his birth, Konoha was attacked by the Kyuubi. The Yondaime, with his advanced fuinjutsu, sealed the beast inside his son to prevent it from harming the village. Naruto the Hero was born carrying the burden of a demon. Marked as a jinchuuriki with a seal on his stomach, Naruto the Hero had become a human sacrifice for the village. The Yondaime and his wife died shortly afterwards, choosing to be buried together secretly. Naruto the Hero was placed into Konoha's war-orphan system with his mother's last name to conceal his parentage.

Below the words was a painting of an artist's rendition of the Kyuubi being sealed into a newborn by the Yondaime. The Kyuubi took up a major portion of the painting, in the lower left-hand corner Naruto and the Fourth were depicted. The Fourth Hokage held his hand out towards the beast and placed another hand on the child's belly. The sickly red chakra flowing into his outstretched hand, through him, and into Naruto. Both Naruto and his father's faces showed pure agony as the sealing took place. The Kyuubi appeared to be letting out a wail of pain as he was sealed. Hinata didn't cry, Kurenai was standing next to her, and she didn't want to cry in front of her teacher so soon after her breakdown. She wanted to be strong. She walked to the second plaque.

The Third Hokage passed a decree that none were to speak of Naruto the Hero's status as jinchuuriki in hopes that he would live a normal life. However, the village did not understand the role of Naruto the Hero, and proceeded to speak ill of him whenever possible. After several cases of neglect, Naruto the Hero left the war-orphan system and began to live on his own at the age of 8 with frequent checkups from ANBU caretakers. Rather than unleash the Kyuubi as punishment for his mistreatment, Naruto the Hero pulled harmless pranks and encouraged his abusers to lighten up and be happier.

Hinata's brow furrowed. She didn't know Naruto left the orphanage due to neglect. She had assumed he just wanted his own place. Below the plaque was a copy of Sarutobi's now-declassified order to make Naruto's jinchuuriki status an S-class secret, Naruto's old apartment key, and a paintbrush with orange paint dried in the bristles. All locked behind a glass box. Hinata moved to go towards the third plaque but a hand was placed on her shoulder. She jumped slightly.

"Hinata-chan, they'll be closing soon. If you want to see Naruto's grave, we should go now." Kurenai spoke softly to the girl. Hinata looked at the rest of the museum and nodded. She could always come back later. In fact, she planned to.

"Y-yes, of course. I was just… let's go." She whispered as she was led by her sensei outside.

Once outside the home-turned-exhibit Hinata walked to the larger of the three gravestones. Apparently it was decided to keep Minato and Kushina's original, modest gravestones. Tsunade had spared no expense with the creation of Naruto's gravestone however. It was beautiful.

Hinata stopped just shy of the grave. Sod had been laid over the bare earth, and Naruto's hitai-ate was laid in front of the stone. Hinata kneeled on the grass and bowed to the stone.

"H-hello, Naruto-kun." She spoke softly. "I came to visit, a-and to talk about some things."

"I'll leave you be, so speak your mind. I promise not to eavesdrop." Kurenai whispered as she patted Hinata on the shoulder, walking off a ways. They had decided to come just before closing, guessing there would be a higher chance that Hinata could be alone with Naruto. Luckily, they were correct.

"I know we didn't talk that much, and that's my fault. I just...I came to tell you something I should have told you a long time ago." Hinata paused, even in death the thought of Naruto knowing about her love for him scared her. She hadn't been good enough for Naruto the 'dead last,' she would never be good enough for Naruto the Hero.

"If you want to know, things have been doing ok for me. I've been training a lot harder, so I could be good enough to-" Hinata paused, good enough to what? She didn't know what she wanted, but she knew she wasn't good enough to get it. "It's hard though, with you gone. I used to follow you around, did you know that? I'd watch you pull your pranks, I'd watch you laugh off all your mistakes, and it made me happy. It made me happy to know that, even though someone was in a bad situation, they could choose to be happy. I always wanted to be like that, to be like you."

"I..." Hinata froze, no more wasting time, she had stalled in the museum and she was stalling now, she had to tell him. "I love you, Naruto. Even though you're gone now, I still do. I think about you all the time. I know you thought no one loved you, but I did. I loved you more than was normal. I know-" She paused again, she hoped Kurenai had been honest and was out of earshot. "I know I'm not normal. Normal people don't stalk their crush. I'm not just in love with you, Naruto. I don't just have love for you. I _am_ love for you. Somehow, somewhere, I broke, and I filled the cracks with you. I put the pieces back together with glue made out of Naruto keeping it from falling apart. I should have told you Naruto, I would have done anything for you. I could have made your life easier. I could have made the pain more bearable. I'm sorry."

Hinata wiped tears out of her eyes. Naruto wouldn't have wanted her to cry. She reached out and took his hitai-ate. Holding it in her hands she looked down at it. She held it to her face and inhaled. It still smelled like him. Like ramen, sweat, sunshine, and smiles.

…

…

…

Wait, wasn't Naruto buried with his hitai-ate? How did it get here? Why was it out here and not in the exhibit? It _was_ his, right? Quickly pulling it away from her nose she looked between the cloth and the metal plate. Yeah, an Ichiraku Ramen coupon. She had watched him use it multiple times. This was his, but how did it end up here?

A whisper of a thought crossed Hinata's mind. What if? She had to check, she didn't want to. It was _wrong_. She wanted to remember Naruto as the smiling boy, not a decaying corpse. She had to check though. She _had _to.

Hinata activated her Byakugan. It couldn't see as far into the earth as it could normally, but it could see far enough. To her left she saw the bones of Minato and Kushina, although she noted that Minato's skeleton was missing a few bones. Directly beneath her however.

"K-Kurenai-sensei! He's gone!" Hinata shouted with evident panic in her voice.

"What? Hinata-chan, what are you-" Kurenai ran back to her student before she recognized the Byakugan's signature bulging of the veins around Hinata's eyes. Hinata looked like she had gone mad. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her face was distorted into a mixed reaction of shock, despair, and an intense rage.

"Naruto-kun... his body is gone!" The girl repeated, fingers digging into the soil.

UN:PoA

Get ready for one heck of an author's notes

Well, here we are. We are officially past the "prologue" faze of the story. Things will actually start happening now. How are you guys liking the story so far? This is probably my least favorite chapter so far, just because so much of it was set up for what will happen in the next chapters. My beta is concerned that I'm taking things too slowly. Do you agree? I'm going to keep on my current course for a few chapters, but if you have any advice or whatnot just say so. I've been running relatively close to canon so far, but things are about to go sideways fast. Things like "lore" are about to get thrown out, and "canon" will be a dirty word.

Also, shout-out to the reviewer who totally called that Hinata would realize Naruto's body was gone. You're either a psychic or my foreshadowing was not as subtle as I thought it was.

I bet some of you are wondering wtf "KJ" is. Since there is no proper calendar system in Naruto (that I could find) I made one up. KJ stands for "Kakurezato no jidai" which **roughly** translates to "the age of hidden-villages." If that's all you cared about, cool, sit back and wait for the next chapter. If you want to hear the ramblings of a madman, Please continue.

For anyone wondering what music was playing in Mizuhana's Menagerie of Miscellaneous Materiel it was "Summer Samba" by Walter Wanderley. Also note that it's materiEL, not materiAL. MateriEL is used only when referring specifically to military equipment. MateriAL is anything made of, y'know, matter.

In case anyone cares (you shouldn't) for the purposes of this fic: 1 ryo = 1 cent or 100 ryo = 1 US dollar. So Naruto would be making $200 dollars a day on the ship, but with 14 hour days that only comes out as around $14.30 an hour, so he's making decent money, but nothing extreme. That being said it's basically double what he made on the dock.

And before anyone asks, no, Hinata isn't going crazy. She's _always been_ crazy. She is CANONICALLY a stalker, and I'm just expanding on that. Note: this is NOT me bashing Hinata. She is actually one of my favorite characters, but she's definitely nuts. I always felt Kishimoto didn't go into enough depth on the whole "I like to follow Naruto around and am also madly in love with him" thing. Hinata was willing to die for Naruto in the Pein arc, even though he only knew her as "that weird but nice" girl. Those aren't the actions of someone who's entirely together. She's an inherently sensitive person who had an absolute trash family and home life. And if that didn't break her enough, now the one thing she thought was good in the world is dead.

This is the part where I rant about calendars, turn back now for dead men tell no tales.

SO! Konoha was the first hidden-village to be founded. We know that Sarutobi was 69 when he died. I'm going to assume that he was born in Konoha. That means that Konoha is at LEAST 69 years old at the end of Sarutobi's life. I added another 10 years, because I thought it unlikely that Sarutobi would be born on the exact date of Konoha's founding and wanted to add some wiggle room. So that means Konoha is _approximately_ 79 years old. Naruto was 12 when Sarutobi died, so that means he was born 67 years after the village was founded. Ergo, Naruto was born Oct. 10th 67KJ

I decided to just guesstimate how old Konoha was. Then claim that everyone agreed to call the creation of the village system a new era, and start counting years from then. Yes, this is a giant tweaking of canon but screw it, I need a decent calendar system.

THANKFULLY Kishimoto uses dates from the Christian/Gregorian calendar like "October 10th" as Naruto's birthday. So I don't have to work dates around some kind of lunar cycle or something. I suppose it could be worse, I could be stuck with the decimalized calendar that the French came up with during the French Revolution because they were triggered by anything related to Chrstianity. Ugh, how would you like to have 10 hours in a day, 100 minutes in an hour, and 100 seconds in a minute. Also there are 12 months in a year, 30 days in a month, 3 weeks in a month, and 10 days in a week, with a grand total of 360 days a year. Did mention that New Years starts on September 22nd? Except for when it starts on the 23rd or 24th. Also everything is named after plants and weather. So you don't actually have "September" or "October" you have "Grape Harvest" and "Mist." Yeah... figure that shit out.


	6. The Storm

Chapter 6: The Storm

Naruto stared up at the large wooden mast of the ship he was about to board. It was a big step: if he got on this ship he would be gone for months, if not longer. There would be no turning back. If he wanted to return to Konoha, it would be now or never. That's when the sudden realization hit him. A realization that he had been doggedly refusing to face. If he wanted to go back it had to be now, but that was the problem.

He didn't _want_ to go back.

He didn't want to go back. He didn't want to tell Sakura that he'd failed, or that he'd broken his nindo. He didn't want to put up with her yelling, hitting, and crying. He didn't want to explain to Tsunade that he had decided to abandon the village because some stupid flowers told him to. He didn't want to deal with Kakashi always being late. He didn't want to beg Jiraiya and Kakashi in order to get any kind of training done. He didn't want to deal with the looks and snide remarks of the villagers. He didn't want to do any of that.

He didn't want to be Hokage anymore.

Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and clutched his chest. It felt like something had sunk deep into his gut and turned sour, yet it also felt like some colossal weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He didn't know it was _possible_ for him to not want to be Hokage. That was just, _heretical_, or something. He had _always_ wanted to be Hokage. He couldn't remember a time where being Hokage hadn't been his end goal, yet here he was. Getting on a ship to a faraway land he had never been before because he didn't want to go home, if he could even call it home anymore. He almost felt sick, but at the same time, he was completely fine.

"Hey, Hige-san!" Someone shouted near Naruto. "Who's the kid with the funny whisker marks?"

"That's Haku-kun," Hige responded from far away. "he's got a strong back and an even stronger work ethic. He's coming along too. Don't worry, if he gets in the way just point him in the right direction, he'll learn."

Naruto was immediately drawn out of his introspection.

_ 'I'm an idiot!'_ Naruto yelled at himself internally. _'Who cares about orange clothes when you have fucking whisker marks! How am I supposed to keep a low profile with whisker marks on my face! Quick, think of some bullshit!'_

"Actually," Naruto explained. "they're tattoos my parents gave me as a child. It's a family tradition thing, don't worry about."

_'Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it-'_

"Oh, yeah I guess that makes sense." The man said with a shrug. "I've seen people do weirder things. Did you know there's a clan in Konoha that's obsessed with getting as fat as possible? Bunch of weirdo fetishists if you ask me."

"Hehe, yeah, sounds weird." Naruto chuckled before walking up onto the ship, breathing a sigh of relief. _'Thank the gods! Still, I'll need to find a way to hide my face in the future.'_

He was carrying everything he owned in his jacket-turned-bag at his side. He had tied the bottom shut, zipped it up, and shoved everything he had down the neck of the jacket and carried it by the sleeves. It probably looked weird, but it was functional for now. His stomach grumbled a little; he had forgotten to get dinner last night, and the small rice-ball he had for breakfast wasn't enough to keep him full for long. Hopefully, Hige wasn't kidding when he said food would be provided. Speaking of Hige...

"Haku-kun!" Hige shouted a bit too loudly as he slapped Naruto on the shoulder. "Good to see you made it, I was afraid you'd chicken out. You are just a kid after all, and working on a trade ship is hard work."

"Heh, yeah don't worry about it. I said I would come, so I did!" Naruto chuckled nervously. "That and I really do need the money."

Hige nodded "Aye, I understand, you don't need to explain yourself to me." The large man let go of Naruto's shoulder and stepped away "Here, let me show you your quarters. You're the new guy so you get the barf bunk."

"Barf bunk?" Naruto asked, his head suddenly filled with images of a vomit-covered bed. "I didn't bring any cleaning supplies."

"Ha! Don't worry, it's clean… for now." Hige said as he led Naruto down a set of stairs on the ship as several men hustled about. Once under the deck, Naruto was lead to the forward of the ship, on the second floor. Opening a door Naruto was shown his 'room.' The thing was barely large enough to hold a bed, which was a small, simple mattress on a wooden frame. Although he supposed he should be grateful he had 4 walls and a door. He had been expecting to sleep in hammocks surrounded by 30 men.

"So why is it called the barf bunk?" Naruto asked, not entirely wanting an answer.

"Because it's right near the bow, meaning you're gonna feel every wave and bump as we sail, and if you don't have a stomach of steel," Hige shrugged. "well... barf bunk."

Naruto frowned but nodded, tossing his stuff onto the bed. "Nice." He said sarcastically. His stomach wasn't weak, but it didn't know how he would handle sleeping on a roller coaster.

Hige laughed and clapped Naruto on the shoulder again. "Don't worry, Haku. You'll be fine! You ready to get to work? We're about to head out."

"Sure," Naruto nodded. "But, how are we gonna set out when there's no wind? It's not like you want me to row is-" Naruto looked at the man who simply smiled in return. "Right, guess I'm on it, just point the way."

"Just head right down those stairs. You'll see a guy in a funny hat. Tell him you're new and ask him where he wants you. Just follow his orders and you'll be fine."

Naruto just nodded. _'20 thousand ryo a day Naruto,'_ He thought to himself._ 'just remember, you're getting 20 thousand a day.'_

UN:PoA

Tsunade stared down at the report on her desk with unseeing eyes. Her mind preoccupied with what she had just learned. Naruto's body was gone.

_'Who could have done this?'_ She thought to herself. _'Iwa? No, they hated the Fourth but that's no reason to take Naruto. Besides, they wouldn't have left Minato's grave untouched. Akatsuki? That doesn't make sense: the Kyuubi died with Naruto. There's no way they would be stupid enough to try and still extract it. Oto? Orochimaru is a right bastard, but he already has Sasuke, there's no reason for him to want Naruto as well. Unless he's after the Uzumaki's famed longevity? Surely Naruto couldn't have been the last of the clan right? It would be far easier for him to simply find another Uzumaki. Not to mention Naruto wasn't even a pureblood Uzumaki, only on his mother's side.'_

"Knock-knock." A voice came from the window nearby.

"Why is it that the only times I see you anymore is when something terrible has happened?" Tsunade asked her former teammate.

"Because we both know that you're never actually going to fall for me and I can only waste so much time trying before I get depressed?" Jiraiya answered as though he was asking himself a question. He was being surprisingly honest. Although given the events that had taken place over the last month or so, Tsunade supposed it was only fair that the man's usually jubilant persona had faltered. "With my work keeping me out of the village, the only reason I have to return is with bad news or to make sure you're ok after you inform me of bad news."

"So, you're here to check up on me? That's surprisingly sweet for a legendary super pervert." Tsunade responded raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"Thank you! I still get up enough gusto to try and win your heart occasionally." Jiraiya laughed. "How's the search for the 'Newkage' going?" he asked, chuckling at his terrible pun.

Tsunade's slightly improved mood at being distracted by Jiraiya left the second the conversation returned to business.

"Terribly. Kakashi turned the position down as I'm sure you know, and I simply can't find any other Jounin that could handle the job. Gai is certainly skilled enough, but he's too… shall we say 'unique' to handle sitting in an office making political decisions all day; he'd turn me down to continue training his team as well. I've looked into several ANBU members but you know them. They can't go two weeks without the adrenaline rush of a near-death experience; let alone going months, or even years, without combat."

"What about Shukaku? He's handling most of the logistics right now anyway, right? Surely he would be capable of handling the title." Jiraiya offered.

"He's more than capable, but he would never accept the position." Tsunade rebutted. "The only person I can think of that could have both the ability and the desire to be Hokage would be Hyuuga Hiashi."

"Hiashi? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jiraiya asked.

"No," Tsunade responded immediately. "that's why I haven't asked him. Hiashi is too focused on his clan, he would only use the position to further the goals of the Hyuuga, not Konoha as a whole."

The room filled with silence for a few moments. The awkward pause was only broken by Tsunade's sigh.

"How long are we going to talk about things that aren't Naruto? We both know it's why you're here." She asked. "I haven't thought of a single plausible theory, and Kakashi's tracker hounds haven't managed to pick up even a hint of a trail of the grave robbers. It's like they were never even there."

"All I know is what was in the message you sent me. Who found out he was gone? Give me a timeline."

"A Hyuuga by the name of Hinata discovered he was missing last evening. She found Naruto's hitai-ate at his grave and realized that it shouldn't be there since he was buried with it. Using the Byakugan she discovered the absence of his body. Another Hyuuga was brought in to confirm that the body was gone, and he did so. Naruto's hitai-ate has been confiscated and now you know just as much as I do."

"Why leave the hitai-ate behind? To send a message?" Jiraiya speculated.

"Well, if it was then it was a pretty shitty message considering we don't know who sent it or what it was supposed to mean." Tsunade replied taking a bottle of sake out of the drawer in her desk.

"And you said there was no scent of the grave robbers, but what about Naruto? Any scent of him?" He asked

"None, there was a lingering smell on his hitai-ate, but no trail. Meaning-"

"-That they took his body a while ago." Jiraiya hummed to himself, scratching his chin. "How has everyone reacted to this?"

"They haven't, I've made this whole situation an S-class secret. The only people that know are you, me, Shizune, Kakashi, Kurenai, the Hyuuga girl, Shukaku, and the Hyuuga that was called in to confirm Naruto was gone," Tsunade responded. "The citizenry has continued to deify Naruto and would demand war if they so much as suspected Iwa or Oto took his body. If it was just people that mourned Naruto's death against people who didn't care, things would be more reasonable. Unfortunately, the arguments are between two groups that both claim to care for Naruto, so it's not 'how much should we care' it's 'which of us can care the most.'"

Jiraiya frowned. "That's… worrying."

"There was even a vote to have his face carved into Hokage Mountain."

"Did it pass!?" Jiraiya asked, eyes wide as he suddenly realized just how insane the situation had become.

"Of course it didn't pass, and I would have vetoed it if it did!" Tsunade berated him as though he were an idiot. "But the fact that it was brought up is worrying enough! I can understand ignorant civilians getting carried away, but we're talking jounin that are doing this too. We need to find a way to deescalate the situation and fast. I want to leave Konoha, but I prefer it stand for more than 15 minutes after I've left."

Another awkward quietness filled the room. Seconds turned to minutes as the two of them sat in silence.

"Well, it sounds like you've got things basically under control," Jiraiya said happily, abruptly changing the mood of the room.

"What? What are you-"

"I'll still be in town for a few days if you need me, I'm gonna go do some 'totally not peeping.' See ya!" Jiraiya laughed as he fell backwards out of his perch on the window sill. Tsunade knew that if he would already be gone if she went to chase after him.

She frowned and took a giant swig straight out of the bottle before doing some her breathing exercises. "…Asshole."

UN:PoA

Every muscle in Naruto's body ached. He didn't know that rowing took so much effort. After several hours of rowing, the wind had finally picked up and the oars had been retracted. The whole situation was made slightly easier thanks to the row-master's singing voice. He sang as the men rowed and it was quite frankly beautiful. The purpose was supposedly to help the men synchronize their rows by matching them with the rhythm of his song, but Naruto suspected the secondary reason was as a morale booster.

He laid face down on his bed as the jerky rhythm of the ship rocked him. He had received about 15 minutes for his lunch break which consisted of rice with some oily fish on top. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he figured he should be upset at such a lackluster meal, but he had been too hungry to care and gobbled it down greedily before returning to rowing. He was slightly regretting eating as much as he did though as the waves rocked his sleeping quarters.

His shift was supposed to be 14 hours but after having a look at him, Hige had decided to let him have the rest of the day off after 12 hours While most of the other men rowing had swapped out to take a break and handle the rigging up top, Naruto had stayed in the lower deck and rowed. He didn't know about rigging after all, and according to Hige the first day or two after setting off were always the most hectic. He promised to teach Naruto later, but for now, he was stuck rowing until things calmed down.

Naruto let the sheets on top of his bunk soak in his sweat as he lie face down on the mattress. Hige and all the other men had agreed that Naruto did some have crazy endurance for a 13-year-old, but he was still a 13-year-old trying to do a man's job and Naruto could feel it.

Closing his eyes Naruto snored softly, letting the not-so-gentle back and forth motion of the ship rock him to sleep.

UN:PoA

"So what do you think?" Kakashi asked Kurenai as he poked at his food. The two of them sat across from each other at a small table in the jounin lounge. Contrary to popular belief however, the jounin lounge had more in common with a school cafeteria than some kind of fancy bar.

"I think that you're asking a rather large favor and offering nothing in return. I have more than enough to deal with with Hinata after-" Kurenai looked around and saw that the lounge was rather populated at the moment. "after you-know-what happened. She was just about to start healing when she saw you-know-what. If she was unstable before, she's insane now. She's thrown herself headfirst into training. When she showed up for today, she was covered in so many bruises I couldn't tell where her skin ended and the wounds began. She's kept her Byakugan active at all times in what I can only assume is an attempt to either increase chakra efficiency with it or to increase her reserves. She got so tired she passed out mid-spar with Kiba. And now you want me to help you train _your_ student as well?"

"Yes." Kakashi held up a hand to stop Kurenai's retort. "However, I never said I would offer nothing in return. I only have Sakura now as you know, so if you're training her that means I can help train your team. I can use my dog summons to help train Kiba, my Sharingan will help Shino learn how to deal with opponents that can keep track of his bugs, and Hinata..." Kakashi paused. "I'll think of something to do with Hinata. I've dealt with loss in the past, and I can help her deal with it now. Even if it's only to focus her energy into a more productive route."

Kurenai shook her head. "You're still asking a lot, Kakashi. Yeah, you can help with Kiba and Shino, but they're mostly capable of taking care of themselves right now. Hinata is what I'm worried about."

"I don't know her well enough to be able to guarantee that I can help her. Honestly, I don't know if anyone can. The Hyuuga have been pushing out emotionally shattered shinobi for years; I can't promise I can reverse the damage they've done, but I can try."

Kurenai took a pickled plum off of Kakashi's tray and popped it in her mouth, savoring the sour but sweet flavor for a moment before she swallowed and spoke. "I know you need help with Sakura, but Hinata is my priority right now. We'll give it a one-week trial run. If you can convince me you're helping Hinata then I'll continue to help Sakura. Deal?"

Kakashi reached out and shook Kurenai's hand. "Deal." He replied before stealing a dumpling off of her tray. She didn't see him do it, but he had managed to gobble it down and smiled at her from behind his mask as he chewed the savory treat.

UN:PoA

Naruto clung to the sheets as he suddenly woke. He knew that the 'barf bunk' was supposed to be bumpy, but he wasn't sure it was supposed to be _this_ bumpy. He blinked rapidly to clear his eyes of sleep before being flung up off of his bed and into the ceiling of his small quarters by a particularly violent bump.

"Ok, this can't be normal!" He shouted to himself before crawling off the bed and out of the room. "What's going on here- _oof!_" Naruto grunted as he was suddenly tossed down the hall and into the wall near the staircase, hitting his head. Taking a moment the rub his head and make sure he was ok he stood back up and made for the stairs. He quickly climbed up and looked around. The scene on deck looked like something out of a play or a movie. Large, burly men in white undershirts ran about pulling on levers and ropes while a man up top frantically turned the ship's wheel erratically. The sky was a dark blue-ish gray with sporadic rays of light shining down, and harsh salty wind flew about them like a hurricane. Naruto was struck by the thought that if it weren't for the sense of impending doom, it would all look rather beautiful.

Spotting a familiar face amidst the crowd, Naruto shouted out as loudly as he could. "Hige-san!" The man didn't reply, too busy yelling orders at various men and unable to hear Naruto's voice above the roar of the winds and waves. Naruto used chakra adhesion to stay stuck to the ship's deck as he made his way to his employer and friend.

"Hige-san!" Naruto shouted again. This time the man heard and turned to the young boy.

"Haku! Get below deck, it's safe there! You can't help here!" Hige yelled as he moved to usher Naruto back below deck, suddenly they were both knocked over by another wave striking the ship and flooding the deck. They were both flung apart to separate ends of the deck and several voices could be heard crying for help from the ocean below, many men having been thrown overboard by the wave.

Naruto coughed as he tried to wipe his eyes, the salt water making them sting and making it hard to see. Naruto looked around for Hige, wanting to make sure the man was safe. Finally spotting him near the center of the ship. Just as the large man tried to stand, a sickening crunching, cracking sound emanated from the mast. The base of the mast suddenly snapped dancing off of its post and grinding across the deck, directly towards Hige.

"Hige-san! Move!" Naruto shouted but it was too late. Just as Hige wiped the oceanic brine off of his face he was pinned by the mast as it slid across the deck, dragging him with it. Naruto's eyes widened in horror as he watched the closest thing he could call a friend slowly crushed into a chunky red paste across the ship's deck. Cries of agony and pain pierced the harsh winds. Tears came to Naruto's eyes and he was going to scream but was suddenly struck across the back of the head by a piece of unseen debris. Another wave hit, the briny water forced its way into his mouth and up his nose. The last thing he thought before falling unconscious was that Sakura being upset with him suddenly didn't seem like that big a deal.

UN:PoA

Another short chapter this time, sorry about that, I couldn't think of a way to add more content without breaking the pacing.

Before you comment, yes Hige's death was short and brutal. This fic is rated M for a reason. 9 times out of 10 people don't have time to utter their final words before gently slipping into the next life. 9 times out of 10 people's deaths are sudden, horrifying, and tragic.


	7. A little brain damage never hurt nobody

Chapter 7: A little brain damage never hurt nobody.

Naruto's eyes opened slowly. He didn't know what he had been expecting to see, but it certainly wasn't this. Staring up at the concrete ceiling he watched as it moved and twirled, rainbow patterns forming and breaking as he stared. Everything hurt.

He didn't know how long he laid down in the waters of the sewer inside his mind, staring up at the chameleon ceiling before standing up. A part of him wanted to go to sleep, to pretend this was all a dream and that maybe he'd wake up in Konoha's hospital with Sakura thanking him for bringing back Sasuke. He knew better.

His childhood had been filled with many such wishes. Wishes that he'd wake up and his mom would be cooking him breakfast. Wishes that he would go to school and everyone would want to be his friend. Wishes that he would be anyone other than Naruto. His wishes never came true.

Cracking his neck as he rose off of the water covered floor he felt a small tugging coming from behind his navel, he knew where he needed to go. Walking down the twisting and winding halls of the sewer in his mind he let himself get lost, following his instincts.

He wasn't sure how long he had been walking. Hours? Days? Seconds? He felt his mind folding in on itself with a throbbing aching pulsation. Finally, the tugging led him to a large room, more of an auditorium really. In the middle of the room was a row of thick iron bars. The bars ran infinitely to his left and right and extended infinitely up. Behind them, a large pair of glowing yellow eyes looked down at him.

"Well? Are you going to thank me?" A large booming voice resounded from behind the bars. "I don't require much of a reward, just rip this nasty little poster down, it's such an eyesore." the voice said, a colossal claw reaching out from the darkness to tap on a small piece of paper that was keeping two iron bars stuck together.

"What?" Naruto asked. He honestly had no idea what was going on. He knew he_ should_ be scared. He just wasn't for some reason.

"Looks like your most recent bout of brain damage was more serious than I thought." The voice boomed. "I'll tell you what, why don't I help you? I can be very helpful, all you have to do is take off this tiny piece of paper and then I'll be your friend. Ok?"

Naruto looked at the glowing eyes before nodding and making his way to the seal. "Y-yeah that- w-wait, no. This is wrong, something's wrong." Naruto fell to his knees, clutching his head, the aching pulsation was growing stronger than before. It hurt. His sight was blurry, everything was just colors and shapes. It was like he was looking at the world through rainbow-colored TV static. Naruto looked down at his hand and was puzzled as to why his fingers were stretching and contracting like they were breathing. He was pretty sure bones weren't supposed to move like that.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked the glowing eyes. "What's happening to me?"

"Part of your visual cortex was damaged, your mind is currently re-growing neurons to fix it. You're gonna be like this for a while." The voice answered, suddenly sounding rather downtrodden. The glowing eyes lowered and Naruto could only assume that the beast had lied down.

"Visual cortex?"

The not-so booming voice sighed. "The part of your brain that deals with what you see. Don't worry about it, just shut up and wait a few minutes."

Naruto swallowed hard and sighed, it wasn't like he had anything better to do. He sat down and closed his eyes, trying not to get too nauseous.

UN:PoA

"Ack!" Sakura grunted as she landed with a thunk against the ground. Her eyes widened as she saw Kakashi darting down towards her from above, his leg extended in a kick. Quickly rolling to the side she jumped up and back, trying to get distance between her and her sensei.

"You're too slow, move faster!" He shouted as he dashed towards her. "High left kick, deflect and counter-attack!" He ordered as his foot made its way towards the side of her head.

Sakura ducked and punched up at Kakashi's leg, throwing him off balance just as he asked. Using the brief half-second opening she made to punch him in the back before he dodged to the side, gripping her arm and tossing her over his shoulder and back onto the ground. "_Never _commit to an attack without thinking of an exit strategy." He ordered. "Get back up, you can still fight."

Sakura coughed. "I d-don't think I can. I think I'm done." She gasped, as she let the refreshing dew covered grass cool her off.

"Once more, then we can work on your medi-jutsu." He said, kicking her side gently. "Get up."

"Y-yes, sir." Sakura sighed as she got up on wobbly knees. She _hated_ taijutsu training. She much preferred regular endurance and strength training. Sure she was more tired after running laps and doing push-ups, but at least she wasn't covered in bruises afterwards.

"Good. Now, you're not strong enough to block my attacks, and odds are you never will be. So you need to focus on the deflection and redirection of my momentum. Understood?" He asked, "You're smart Sakura, think of it like a physics problem if you need to." He pointed to his left fist with his right hand. "Object X is moving towards object Y with an inertia of Z, what is the most efficient method of avoiding a collision between objects X and Y."

Without another word Kakashi moved to punch Sakura in the face, reflexively she lifted her arms to block. While she managed to retain her form she was sent flying back again and landed in the nearby river. Kakashi looked at her as she surfaced and gasped for air, shaking his head.

"Sakura-chan, object Y is _you._ Redirect or dodge, never allow object collision." Kakashi sighed as he walked to her and held out his hand to help her out of the river. "You ok?"

Sakura rubbed her left forearm but nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm fine, just a little beat up." She answered before taking his hand and climbing out of the river.

Kakashi smiled at her apologetically "Heh, yeah, sorry about that. I thought you were going to dodge." He explained, brushing some of the grime off of her as she tried to dry her hair. "You ready for medical training?

Sakura sighed and looked down. "Yeah." She answered. She wanted to say she couldn't, that she was too tired, but she knew that he knew better. She couldn't bring herself to lie to him either. He was trying so hard to make her a better kunoichi. He knew just how far to push her, and a part of her appreciated it. She had already made great progress since Naruto and Sasuke… well since she started training solo.

"Now then, what chapter are we on again?" He asked "We did lacerations last time, right?

"Yeah, we're on chapter 12 now, arterial bleeding." Sakura frowned, she wasn't looking forward to practicing this. The book suggested testing on a dog. She loved dogs. She hoped Kakashi didn't use one of his summons to test her skills on, she could never live with herself if she killed Pakun or something. "S-so, should we go to the pound or something? Get our..." She paused, not enjoying the words she was using. "test subject."

Kakashi cocked his head and looked at her. "What are you talking about? You need to learn about healing arterial bleeding, not get a pet." He said as he took a kunai out of his pouch.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you-" Sakura began to ask before she saw him roll up the sleeve on his left arm and turning his hand so his palm was facing up. "Wait, you're not gonna-" Kakashi jabbed the kunai into his forearm and dragged it up towards his elbow. Blood began to spurt wildly.

"Now then." He smiled up at her, placing the kunai back into his pouch. "I'm bleeding out, and you're going to stop that. Ok?" He asked casually.

"Kakashi-sensei what the fuck!" Sakura shouted before Kakashi bopped her on the top of her head with his non-bleeding hand.

"No swearing." He chastised "Now, focus on the 'don't let your sensei die' part please."

UN:PoA

Taking deep breaths Naruto slowly stood back up and looked around. Everything was still shifting ever so slightly, but at least his head didn't feel like it was simultaneously going to explode_ and _implode.

"Ok," Naruto said looking at the glowing eyes again. "Everything is still wiggly, but at least I can think straight now. That was… weird."

"I can imagine." The Kyuubi said. "Now, I would greatly appreciate it if you would wake up and avoid dying again."

"Again? Did I die in the shipwreck? Is this hell? I'm not gonna be reincarnated as like a mouse or something am I?"

"No you dolt, you didn't die in the shipwreck, you died at the hands of the Uchiha boy. If it weren't for me you would have stayed dead too."

"What? I didn't die, I was buried alive because, uh, hmm." Naruto paused. Sasuke wouldn't have _actually_ killed him, right? They were friends, weren't they?

_'Yeah, but what kind of friend betrays you and stabs you in the chest with lightning?'_ Naruto thought to himself.

"So wait, why did you resurrect me then? Is it because if I die, you die?" Naruto asked, still trying to make heads or nine-tails of the situation.

The glowing eyes narrowed slightly. "That has got to be the most idiotic thing I've ever heard." The Kyuubi growled. "I am the hate and anger of humanity given form. As long as humanity exists, so too shall I. I resurrected you because the seal forced me too. I cannot be killed, at least not permanently. Upon your death my 'soul,' if you could call it that, will be sent to purgatory for 9 years while my body reforms. Or, at least it _would_..."

Naruto waited for the beast to continue for a moment before prompting him. "But?"

"But your _bastard_ of a father sealed half my soul inside the Shinigami!" The Kyuubi roared. "I can only form a new body if I 'die,' and I can't fully die if half my soul is stuck, technically alive, inside an eternal being's gut. So even if I 'die,' I won't die; I'd be stuck in limbo,"

"So if I died, you wouldn't die, but you'd be, like, mostly dead?" Naruto asked.

The Kyuubi let out a long-suffering sigh. "Sure, I'd be 'mostly dead.'"

"Wait a minute, you knew the Fourth Hokage was my dad! Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto demanded.

"Because I hate you." The Kyuubi replied nonchalantly.

"Well then," Naruto paused, slightly taken aback by the bluntness of his guest. "is there anything else I should know before I wake up stranded in the middle of the ocean?"

"Don't expect any more help from me for a while. That damned seal took a lot out of me, it'll be a while before I'm back in proper condition."

"How long?" Naruto asked.

"About 3 years." The demon eyes responded.

"Damn."

There was a long pause after that. Naruto stared down at the water covered floor, thinking.

"Wait, you said the whole visual context thing was only my most recent bout of brain damage. What did you mean?" Naruto asked.

"It's visual _cortex,_ and it means that this isn't the first time you've had to regrow neurons. The amount of brain-damage you received after you died was severe, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been. You're lucky you're an Uzumaki _and _jinchuuriki or else you'd be brain-dead right now.."

"Wait, but Sasuke hit me in the chest, not the head." Naruto corrected

"Yes, but the brain needs oxygen, and your heart was destroyed, meaning no blood to your brain. Almost your entire brain had died before I managed to heal your heart and started pumping blood again, once you crawled out of that box that humans put their dead in, and got some air, we started to heal your brain as well. Your DNA holds the code to recreate all your neurons, however, the connects _between_ your neurons are entirely nurture, not nature. So you have the brain of a newborn, but the memories and body of a 13-year-old. You'll need to re-learn all your impulse control, planning, how to properly react to stimulus, etc. It's the difference between knowing an equation, and knowing when to use it." The Kyuubi yawned and Naruto stared at the monologuing demon, slack-jawed. "It's why you imprinted on the fat man like a lost puppy, it's why you had such a hard time ignoring the trash in the old woman's shop, it's why you remembered to get new clothes for a disguise but forgot that you have whisker marks. Your brain is still trying to figure out how to make connections again."

Naruto blinked rapidly. "What?"

The Kyuubi sighed. "Ok, I'm bored of you now. Go away."

"No, wait! I have more questions!" Naruto shouted before he felt his body fold in on itself and he popped out of his mindscape.

Now alone in his prison, the Kyuubi allowed the shadow he had formed over his body to recede. No longer was he the strong and proud nine-tailed demon fox. His form had diminished. His red fur was mangy, and he looked emaciated; his ribs were clearly visible through his skin and fur. To his great shame behind him were not his nine tails, with which he could destroy mountains and cities, but instead, there was a single, broken tail. The Kyuubi closed his eyes, trying to sleep. As far as he was concerned, the next 3 years couldn't pass quickly enough.

UN:PoA

Sakura held an ice-pack to her forehead as she walked towards the training ground. She was about 15 minutes late, but she would still be 30 minutes earlier than Kakashi. Her mother had given her some willow bark and chamomile tea last night and it had really helped soothe her injuries and put her to sleep. Straightening her back to let it pop slightly she stopped when she saw that someone was waiting for her in the middle of the training field.

"Umm, hello?" She asked the woman, she was pretty sure she knew her from somewhere, but she couldn't quite place where. "Can I help you?"

"You're late," The red-eyed woman spoke. "it looks like Kakashi's bad habits are rubbing off on you."

The woman's voice was just enough to jog Sakura's memory of who she was, she was the sensei of that quiet Hinata girl and the annoying dog boy.

"Y-yeah, sorry about that. It's just that since Kakashi-sensei is always late, it'd kinda be pointless for me to be on time since I'd just wait around all day, y'know?" Sakura said, subconsciously adding Naruto's old verbal tick to her speech. "Not to be rude, but why are you here?"

"Did Kakashi forget to tell you?" Kurenai sighed, shaking her head. "He wanted me to teach you about genjutsu, and in return, he would help my students as well. Ergo, I'm here, and he's not."

"Oh yeah, he did mention something about that. He didn't say we were starting today though." Sakura explained. "Sorry, I'm a little out of it with how hard Kakashi-sensei's been training me. So, where do you want to start Kurenai-sensei?"

"We'll start with the most important aspect of genjutsu," Kurenai said. "breaking out of one."

Sakura nodded and tossed her ice-pack aside, "Ok, so how should we-" Sakura's eyes went wide, and her heart began to beat faster. Kurenai was staring at her, her eyes piercing into Sakura's very soul. She had to run, she _had_ to run. Sakura was overcome with an intense feeling of dread, and she knew that Kurenai was going to hurt her, to kill her. She _had_ to run. Something was wrong, something was _very_ wrong.

Sakura turned tail to flee back to the village, but when she did Kurenai was already there in front of her, staring down at her with her demonic red eyes. Jumping back Sakura felt as though her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Drawing a kunai from her pouch Sakura prepared for combat; if she was going to die, then she was going to die fighting.

Just as quickly as the intense dread had set over her, however, it left. Sakura blinked several times to find that she was preparing to do combat with a small tree. "W-what?"

"The best way to learn is by doing." Sakura heard Kurenai spoke from behind her. "You didn't detect that you were in a genjutsu, nor did you attempt to break free. I'm not putting much into this, a simple chakra pulse would have been enough to break free. These are academy basics Sakura, try again. You have great chakra control, meaning you'll be able to pick up genjutsu easily. However, you're also more sensitive to genjutsu and will find it more difficult to detect and break free from it. This is the double-edged sword of natural talent. Try again."

"W-wait!" Sakura tried to speak before her eyes widened and an intense feeling of dread settled over her. She had to run, she _had_ to run.

UN:PoA

With a loud cough, Naruto spat out a mixture of blood and brine. His eyes stung from the salt water that had covered them. Rolling onto his back Naruto rubbed his face and let out a loud groan. Every inch of his body ached.

Opening his eyes he looked around his surroundings. He had managed to wash up on a beach, although he didn't know where the beach was. Hopefully, it was somewhere near the land of Hotsprings and not some random island in Water country.

This wasn't one of those soft white-sand beaches that were in all those vacation brochures though, this beach was mostly gravel and dirt, with a few chunks of wooden debris washed up as well.

Naruto stood and looked around, there was nothing to salvage on the beach, at least not right now. He had nothing but his plain clothes and dirty underwear, he didn't even have his kunai pouch with him anymore. He was alone and unarmed on an unknown beach in potentially hostile territory.

'_Great.'_ Naruto thought to himself sardonically.

Looking further inland Naruto saw what looked like an old decrepit tower in the distance. With a shrug and a sigh, he began to make his way to the ruins.

The journey was less than enjoyable. Considering all the roads and pathways were overgrown and run down. Not to mention the fact that his left ankle kept making this weird, painful, popping noise every time he put too much pressure on it. He wasn't even entirely sure he was following a real path, it could have been a game trail for all he knew.

The trees were tall and wide, with thick branches that were covered in spiky needles. Naruto had to push large stalks of bamboo aside on the path as he made his way through the dense vegetation. The thick clusters of bamboo were outmatched only by the populated blanket of kudzu that had overtaken every non-otherwise occupied piece of soil like a lush green blanket.

Finally, after several minutes of making his way through tangled roots and branches, Naruto broke through the foliage and into the ruins proper. There was no way there were any actual inhabitants here. The place was too run down for that. Only the impenetrable stone streets had prevented the plant life from taking over. It was definitely a ninja village of some kind, or at least it used to be. The layout actually reminded Naruto a lot of Konoha actually. Large roads twisted and turned among the worn down buildings; designed in such a way that if you knew the layout you could get from one end of the village to the other quickly, but if you didn't you would get lost easily.

Naruto ignored the large buildings and made his way to what he assumed _used_ to be the Kage's tower of whichever land this was. It certainly wasn't Fire or Hotspring. He knew that there was apparently some sort of rebellion going on in Water, but these ruins were far too old to be from a recent uprising. Naruto had a sneaking suspicion that he knew where he was, but he didn't want to give it more thought until he had some sort of evidence.

After walking down the lonely roads, Naruto found the proof he needed when he made it to the tower. The large stone structure jutted up into the sky, even with most of its top section blown off, it was still a sight to behold. Looking up he saw a familiar spiral shape, carved into the stone walls of the tower. If that wasn't enough to convince Naruto of where he was there was a brass plate riveted above the entryway to the tower that simply read: 'Uzukage Tower' in big bold letters.

Naruto looked up at the sign and smiled softly, a tingling sensation crept all over his skin and his hair stood on end. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the bizarre euphoric sensation. He had never felt like this before, but at the same time, he knew exactly what the feeling was. It was a feeling he had longed for his entire life, a feeling that he thought he would never receive. He had thought that he would find the feeling in Konoha, after proving himself to its people, but he was wrong. The feeling had been here all along, waiting for him.

"I'm home." He whispered to himself, fighting back tears.

UN:PoA

Author's note.

Sorry this took so long to come out. Work + school +moving = no time for writing my shitty Naruto fan fiction. Also, I had to scrap and then re-write this entire chapter at least three times. I simply wasn't happy with how I progressed things. I'm trying to make sure I focus more on the "adventure" aspect of the fic rather than the action, but at the same time, I'm itching to get some action in. I wrote and then re-wrote several scenes involving Sasuke's training before scrapping the idea entirely. I'll update Sasuke later, right now I need to focus on Naruto with a side of Sakura. I also wanted to get more in about Hinata, but really she needs to be left alone for a while. She's coming to grips with everything that's happened and she needs to percolate.

For anyone that's curious, for the purposes of this fic, I'm translating Naruto's "dattebayo" into "y'know?" I feel it's the best translation, rather than the entire translation of "So listen to me, y'know?" At the very least it's better than "believe it!"


	8. Many threads to sever and tie

Chapter 8: Many threads to sever and tie.

Naruto stared up at the Uzukage's tower for a long time, letting the flood of new emotions wash over him. He looked in wonder, basking in the silhouette as it stood mighty against the setting sun. That is until his stomach growled at him.

With a frown, Naruto looked down at his gut. "You've dealt with worse, shut up." He grumbled before looking around. Drawing his hands together into a familiar hand sign Naruto yelled out. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" before a flash of smoke surrounded him, once the smoke dissipated he stood in a crowd of 8 of shadow clones. Now that Hige-san was… gone… Naruto didn't have any reason to not use his 'ninja magic.'

"Ok guys, you go look for bamboo shoots and dig up some kudzu roots. I'm pretty sure Iruka-sensei said they were edible if you boiled them." Naruto said before pointing to one clone in particular. "You, look through some of the houses here, see if you can find some pots or anything of use."

"What are you gonna do boss?" One of the clones asked.

"I'm gonna look in the Kage tower, this is our home, we need to learn about it."

All of the clones nodded in understanding.

"Mhmm"

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Very wise."

"That's boss for you."

"Yea verily."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Ok, whatever, now split up," he spoke before leaving his clones behind to walk into the tower.

The entryway was trashed, he could see that there was some form of receptionist desk that had been destroyed as concrete and stone rubble lined the floors. For the land of whirlpools, there was a surprising amount of stone and masonry in their buildings. Although Naruto supposed making a tower out of whirlpools would be pretty hard.

Naruto drew his hands together again and summoned 2 more clones. "Ok guys, split up and look around," he ordered before going upstairs. The two clones began to look more in-depth around the rooms on the ground floor.

Climbing up the tower Naruto saw ruined room after ruined room. The place was covered in a thick layer of dust, not having been disturbed in years. There were several papers strewn about, but they were all decayed and crumbled in his hands when he tried to pick them up, from the looks of them though they were just records of various missions and such.

Continuing to climb up from floor to floor, Naruto searched every nook and cranny but didn't find much. Finally, Naruto reached the top floor, or rather, what was currently the top floor. Everything that had been above the current floor had been destroyed somehow. Naruto looked up into the sky and frowned. He had been hoping for more, of course, he knew that the ruins of a village that had been pillaged and destroyed over a decade ago wouldn't be in the best condition, but he thought there would be _something_.

"Boss!" A voice cried out excitedly from him. "Come check out what we found!"

Turning around, Naruto saw one of his clones beckoning him down the stairs. "Which one are you?" He asked.

"I'm one of the ones that was supposed to look on the main floor, we found something cool looking."

Naruto nodded. "Sweet," he mumbled before following the clone down to the ground floor. Walking into the room behind the reception area Naruto looked at one of his clones as he was ripping up the carpets.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"There was a bump under the carpet so I cut it open, there's a hidden door dude! It's probably got gold or something in there!" The clone replied happily as he continued to rip up the carpet, finally revealing the entirety of the trap door. "Here, help me open it, it looks real heavy."

Naruto walked over to his clone and looked at the door. It was a simple stone slab with metal rings inlaid in 2 of the corners to make it easier to lift. It was laid flush with the rest of the floor.

"How the hell did you find this thing?" Naruto asked the clone as he gripped one of the rings.  
"Uhhh-"

"He tripped and landed on it face first." Clone 2 interrupted with a smirk before the first could respond.

"Shut up dude! You promised you wouldn't tell!" Clone 1 protested. The second clone just shrugged and laughed a little.

Naruto laughed a little too but shook his head. "Focus guys. Here, help me with this."

Clone 1 nodded before gripping the second metal ring. Looking to each other Clone 1 and Naruto nodded as they counted down.

"One, two, _three!"_ They grunted as they lifted the stone slab and placed it aside. Looking down Naruto saw what looked like a bottomless pit. "Not it," he mumbled.

"Not it!" Clone 1 shouted before looking to Clone 2. "Looks like you're up."

Clone 2 frowned but sighed. "Alright fine." He grumbled before stepping up to the square pit and looking down. Without a word, he jumped down into the abyss. Naruto and Clone 1 stared down the pit for several minutes before looking back to each other.

"Think he's dead?" Clone 1 asked.

"Dunno, but as the boss, I volunteer you to find out," Naruto replied. Clone 1 nodded with a resigned look.

"Fine, guess it's my turn to-"

"Hey, boss!" Clone 2 shouted up from deep in the hole. "You're gonna wanna see this!"

UN:PoA

Sasuke grit his teeth slightly. Orochimaru had been called away on 'village business' again and he was far from happy about it. The snake had given Sasuke some scrolls containing lightning and fire-based chakra manipulation techniques and told him to practice. With his eyes he could easily copy any jutsu he saw, but the efficiency he used the jutsu with was entirely dependent on his chakra control. He had always struggled to mold chakra, his thoughts drifted back to his time in Wave country, where he had barely managed to outpace the dead-last fool Naruto with the tree-climbing exercise. Naruto was renowned for his terrible chakra control but had managed to keep up with Sasuke, he didn't want to think about what that meant for_ his _chakra control. The Karin girl was helpful, however, although he knew it was partially due to her orders that she helped him. She apparently had some sort of gift when it came to chakra molding. The loud popping sound of the light bulb in his hand exploding drew him out of his thoughts, tiny shards of glass bouncing off of his protective goggles. "Shit!" He cursed loudly, having lost focus again.

"You're being too rough with it Sasuke-kun," the girl said as he threw the shattered bulb aside and onto an ever-growing pile. "Don't think of it as pushing lightning into the bulb. Pour it out into the bulb gently, let it flow naturally. Lightning and water may be considered near opposites, but they behave very similarly. They both hate being constrained or put under pressure and will flow out naturally when given the chance. Don't push, pour," she said gently.

Sasuke looked at her with a glare, his sour mood only slightly lightened by her soft voice and smile. Her appearance drove something about him off, however. It was like she was a combination of Sakura and Naruto. Her hair reminded him of Sakura, but her face reminded him of Naruto. It was bizarre, to say the least. While her physical appearance reminded him of his former teammates, her personality and attitude did anything but. Naruto was brash and annoyingly loud, with Sakura behaving very similarly whenever she wasn't addressing Sasuke directly. Karin though was gentle, and never brought her voice above a whisper. It almost reminded him of the Hyuuga girl, except Karin was clearly more self-confident, not having a stutter and willing to look him in the eyes.

"I'm aware of that," he growled picking up another bulb "but I'm not exactly pushing, I'm opening and trying to let it flow, but it all just rushes out and- Oh come on!" He shouted as another bulb popped. He threw it so hard it hit the wall on the other side of the training room that had been designated as his personal playground.

Karin pouted a little, looking down at the floor to try and think as she sat on the floor. "Hmmmm~" she hummed to herself. "Sasuke-kun, you're under too much pressure. Well, you're putting your chakra under too much pressure, but that's most likely a subconscious action your performing due to stress."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the girl, the way she spoke was clinical but still warm. It was like Kabuto had decided to grow a personality. "Meaning?" He asked.

"How much sleep have you been getting? When was the last time you ate? How does your mark feel?" She asked one question after the other.

"I'm sleeping and eating fine, and my mark hurts a little like it always does." He lied. The truth was his sleep schedule was shot to shit. Ever since he'd met Karin he'd started having nightmares about killing Naruto, what little work he had done to suppress his emotions on the subject had been destroyed when he saw her face.

Yeah, he hated Naruto, he had _really_ hated Naruto, but the brat had still been the closest thing he could call a friend; the fact that his death had unlocked his Mangekyo Sharingan was a testimony to that. While he wouldn't say he regretted Naruto's death, he certainly wasn't happy about it. He had told himself that he would gladly bear the sin of fratricide so long as it meant he could kill Itachi, but he had underestimated the guilt that would eat at him. He suspected that if it hadn't been for Karin, he would have been able to suppress his consciousness completely, but the redheaded Uzumaki girl was a constant reminder to what he had done to the only person in Konoha that had understood him.

"Are you sure about that?" Karin asked, placing a hand on his forehead. "You don't look so good. You wait here and I'll grab us both something small from the cafeteria." She said before handing him another light bulb and walking off. "Remember Sasuke-kun, _pour_ don't push!" She reminded him before leaving the room.

Sasuke frowned after her before returning his attention to his training. He scowled at the glass bulb in his hand as he tried to 'pour' his lightning chakra into it. The light flickered brightly for a second.

"Holy shit, I did-" He began before the bulb exploded, sending glass shards flying into his face. "Gods dammit."

UN:PoA

Naruto wasn't entirely sure if the low whistle had come from him or one of his clones, but it was well deserved. He hadn't expected the electricity to still work after all these years, but the first clone down had flipped a nearby switch and the small rectangular room lit up with the pale lights of florescent bulbs humming back to life, granted the majority of them didn't turn on, but enough did that he and his 2 clones could see what was in front of them.

The room itself was entirely bare and appeared to have been carved out of a single massive block of stone, upon closer examination however it appeared that it was just concrete that had been polished to have a stone-like appearance. Of course, the quality of the building material wasn't what had impressed the three Narutos.

On the far side of the room, opposite to where they had jumped down, was the most complicated seal matrix that Naruto had ever seen. There was barely more than half an inch of non-carved surface anywhere across the wall, and in the center was the colossal symbol of his people, protruding out from the carved in seal-matrix like a beacon.

"I dare ya to touch it," one of the clones from behind him whispered before pushing him forward slightly, causing him to stumble towards the stone mural.

While normally Naruto would have been rather pissed at whichever clone had pushed him, for some reason he was inexplicably drawn towards the wall like a moth to a flame. He salivated as something in his chest tightened. With step after step, Naruto made his way to the carved concrete, his eyes drawn to the flowing characters that danced off from the central spiral-like rays off of a sun. He didn't know how many spokes emitted from the central point that was the Uzumaki swirl, but he estimated that it numbered in the hundreds, if not thousands.

"Hey boss, I'm pretty sure he was kidding, you should probably let one of us do it first to make sure it's safe, y'know?" A voice spoke from behind him as a hand was placed on his shoulder. Naruto shrugged the hand away and mumbled under his breath.

Looking under the central swirl Naruto noticed a small shallow bowl carved into the stone at about his head height. It was about the perfect size to fit an adult hand… or a child's hand if needed.

Naruto looked down at his hand, when had he started reaching out for the wall? He didn't have time to answer his question. As his hand made contact with the cool smooth stone the carvings on the wall suddenly shone with brilliant red, yellow, and blue lights. His screams echoed throughout the room as he felt the burning sensation of a strangely familiar chakra make it's way up his arm before spreading through the rest of his body.

His soul was on fire.

UN:PoA

Hinata marched down the streets of Konoha and towards the great hall of her family's home, biting the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood.

She knew it was not proper to think ill of her superiors, but Kakashi had been _infuriating._ After summoning several of his hounds to help Shino and Kiba with their tracking and evasion training she had hoped that she would get to practice her Jyuuken on someone with a Sharingan. Instead, he had sat her down and talked to her about two of his friends, Obito and Rin, he talked about their deaths and about overcoming depression, steps of grief, and moving on. She had focused on watching Shino and Kiba with her Byakugan. Sure, the deaths of his teammates had been tragic, but in relation to what had happened to Naruto, it was only tangentially similar at best. Obito had died in the war to save a comrade and Rin had effectively taken her own life. Naruto had been betrayed. By the village, but his team, but most definitely by her. Oh, she nodded and 'hmm'-ed at all the right times, but that was only to get Kakashi to leave her be, if he wouldn't train her then she would be better off sparring with branch members. She didn't have time to philosophize about acceptance of loss, she had to get stronger. She had a dream, well not so much of a dream as it was a goal: to become strong enough to kill a certain person.

Sasuke Uchiha.

She had worked it back, mulled it over within her head at least a thousand times before she had discovered Naruto's empty grave, and a thousand more in the days since. Sasuke was the keystone of the entire tragedy that was Naruto's death and desecration.

If Kakashi had let her practice against a Sharingan armed opponent, she would have been that much closer to being capable of fulfilling her goal. Instead, he had waxed long with platitudes and tried to get her to 'open up.' To let her know that she could 'talk to him about anything.' What use were words when the cause of her pain was half a continent away and several times stronger than her? She had to avenge the loss of her love before she could take the time to grieve, her honor demanded it. _Naruto's_ honor demanded it.

Hinata stopped in front of the large double doors that lead to the Hyuuga's great hall. She had been told to report to her father as soon as her day's training was up, so she did. Opening the door her heart stopped at what she saw. Her father sat in his ceremonial seat and standing in front of him was Hanabi.

"F-father," Hinata began, stuttering for the first time in days "why have you called me?"

"You have made leaps and bounds in recent weeks Hinata-chan, having made progress that I quite frankly thought impossible of you. Yet it appears as though the recent stall in your strength has broken, and has allowed you to spring forward. For this reason, I and several of the elders believe you are finally ready to take up the role as matriarch of the clan. Some of the elders, however, are wary that your recent growth is an illusion, a series of flukes. For this reason we have come to the conclusion that one final fight between you and your sister shall take place. The loser will be branded with the cursed seal, and placed into the branch house."

Hinata's form stiffened at her father's monologue. This couldn't be happening.

"But father-" she began.

"This is not open for debate Hinata," Hiashi interrupted "the elders are tired of waiting, and put bluntly I am as well."

"F-father I just returned from training, and am tired, it would not be fair to make me fight now." Hinata bluffed. Maybe if she could stall she could think of something to prevent either her or her sister from being branded. "At least give me some time to-"

"I had someone follow you today Hinata. All you did in training was talk to Kakashi-san. You will fight, and you will fight today." Her father interrupted sourly. "This decision has been delayed long enough."

"Father, is this formality required?" Hanabi inquired in a haughty tone, smirking and looking at Hinata out of the corner of her eye. "We both know that Hinata-chan is not capable of defeating me if she's scared we should let her forfeit."

Hiashi gave a subtle frown and turned to look at Hinata again. "Very well, Hinata, do you choose to forfeit your birthright?" He asked.

Hinata's mind was running at 1000 miles an hour. She swore to her mother that she would protect her little sister, but if she was branded in Hanabi's place she would never have the freedom to seek revenge on Naruto's behalf. Her life was stuck at a crossroads, and she had to pick which path to take. This was all happening so fast, she was supposed to have more time, she needed to find a way so that neither she nor Hanabi would be branded. She needed to-

"Hinata, answer me. Do you forfeit your birthright?" Hiashi asked with a grunt, not caring for the panic that was going on in Hinata's eyes. Hinata breathed deeply. She needed to avenge Naruto, to get his body back and put it to rest properly. She needed to find Sasuke and bring him to justice. She needed to protect her little sister. "I will fight," Hinata whispered, so softly it was barely audible. "I will take my rightful place as heir." She said, this time more forcefully.

Hanabi scoffed and stood across from Hinata, taking the traditional Jyuuken stance. "Very well, father, tell us when you are ready." The younger sister said stoically.

Hiashi looked to Hinata before nodding slowly as she sunk into her stance as well. "Very well," he stated simply as he leaned back in his seat. "begin."

Hanabi charged forward towards her older sister with a small shout as she prepared to end the spar quickly, just as she always did. To Hinata it was if she was moving in slow motion, tiny cold pin-pricks covered her body as though her entire body had fallen asleep.

Quickly stepping to the side Hinata took a deep breath as she saw Hanabi's strike move past her. She had decided what she must do, but she wouldn't revel in it.

Gripping Hanabi's hand by the wrist Hinata pushed her off balance before placing a single delicate Jyuuken strike at the base of Hanabi's skull. Hanabi let out a soft gasp before she fell face-first onto the floor, unable to move anything below her neck.

"How long?" Hinata's head snapped from her sister up to her father's gaze as he spoke. "How long did you plan on letting the charade play?" He asked simply, eyes downcast as he stared at the stunned Hanabi. The skill with which Hinata had taken care of Hanabi was obvious. True, she may be far from a master, but she was not as incompetent as she had led her father and her elders to believe all these years.

"As long as possible," Hinata said sadly before bowing to her father. "I will be in my room if you need me, father." She whispered before standing up and walking towards the exit.

"It is a tradition that heirs watch their siblings be sealed so that-"

The sliding door shut with a loud thud, interrupting Hiashi as Hinata ran with tears in her eyes. She was crying again, she had accepted that she would still cry sometimes, but at the very least she could hide it.

"I see… I couldn't watch either." Hiashi said softly to himself as he kneeled to place a hand on the back of Hanabi's neck, unblocking her chakra passage to allow her to move again. She shook gently on the floor. "F-father… There must be some mistake, this was a fluke, I can't be sealed, it is my fate to become the matriarch of our clan."

"It appears as though the ties of fate are more easily severed and rebound than we thought. Take your time to collect yourself, I will have our seal masters collect you in a few hours."

Hanabi's prone form shot up and grabbed her father's hand. "No!" She interjected. "P-please! You can't seal me! I can't be one of… _them."_ She said the distaste for the branch family was clear in her voice.

"Such is our way, Hanabi, such is our culture. This is how it has been, and how it always will be in our clan." He whispered as he gently pried her fingers off his wrist. "As I said, take some time to collect yourself, all I can give you if a few hours."

Hanabi curled into a ball on the floor as the last shards of her perception of the world shattered into dust.

UN:PoA

Naruto sat on top of the head of the Fourth Hokage, eating an ice cream cone with Sakura by his side. He couldn't remember how he got here, but that wasn't a big deal… was it?

"What'cha thinking about cutie?" Sakura asked with a giggle before she kissed his cheek. "Your mom and dad said you didn't have to go back home until tonight, it's not like you to worry over nothing. Especially when you've finally saved up enough money to take me out on a date~" She giggled again, punching his arm playfully and taking a bite of her ice cream.

Naruto's mouth opened and words came of their own volition. "I'm just wondering what Sasuke's doing." He answered, the words echoing in his head as they came.

Sakura's face turned into a scowl and she made a *blegh* sound. "That jerk? Listen, Naruto-kun, just because his score was just under yours after we graduated the academy doesn't mean you need to worry about him. He clearly wants to be your best friend or something, but he's too angsty to admit it. He looks up to you, he's not a threat or anything."

Naruto shook his head, an action that felt like he was moving through syrup. "No, I just… I hope he's ok. He's all alone y'know? A lot of girls like him, but he doesn't really have anyone to talk to. Ever since we got put on a team with him I've been worried about him."

"Worried about him?" Sakura asked, resting her head on Naruto's shoulder, "He'll be fine Naruto-kun, Kakashi-sensei helps him with a ton of stuff and we have time to practice together while they do! It's perfect really."

"I know." Naruto began, resting his head on top of Sakura's. "Mom and dad say I worry too much, that everything's fine, but there are no missions for us with how calm everything's been and I get a little pent up sometimes. I'm sorry if I made you worry, I just need to do some training to clear my head."

"Isn't 'too much peace' a good thing?" Sakura asked, letting out a yawn as her finished ice cream fell out of her hands. "Heh, yeah, I guess it is," Naruto replied

UN:PoA

"What the fuck is going on!?" Clone 1 asked quickly as Naruto began to scream, he tried to reach out to grab Naruto but was instantly blasted back by some kind of chakra pulse. It was a minor miracle that he hadn't popped right then and there.

"How should I know!? You're the one that told him to touch it!" Clone 2 responded angrily before running to the back of the room. "I'm getting more clones for help, try to do… something!" He shouted before jumping back up the access hatch.

UN:PoA

Naruto sobbed as he held Sasuke's dead body in his arms. "I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean for it to end like this. I j-just wanted to bring you home!" He shouted into his corpse as the rain poured over the both of them. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking up he saw the single sad eye of his sensei.

"K-Kakashi-sensei! You can heal him right!? It's not too late, right? C-can we still save him!?" Naruto asked, almost begged as he turned to grip at Kakashi's wet vest.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I thought I could course-correct Sasuke, but it looks like I was wrong. I'm sorry I'm late again, but you did the right thing, we couldn't allow Sasuke to get into Orochimaru's hands." Kakashi said as he moved past Naruto and scooped Sasuke off of the ground. "Come with me, you need to get looked at, that's a nasty wound on your shoulder."

"He was aiming for my chest… I just deflected and..." Naruto started standing up before immediately falling back down onto the wet stone covered ground. Everything was upside down, and inside out. His head was folding in on itself. There was and wasn't. This wasn't it, was it? Or maybe the other it wasn't it and this was the it that-"

UN:PoA

Clone 2 ran through the desolate streets of Uzushiogakure yelling at the top of his lungs. "Emergency at the tower! Emergency at the tower! Everyone get off your ass and get back to Naruto!"

Several of the clones that had been tasked with gathering roots panicked for a moment before quickly dropping what they had collected and made their way towards the Uzukage tower.

UN:PoA

"Hey, I'm Naruto, and when I grow up, I'm gonna be Hokage! What's your name?" Naruto asked with a broad grin as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"H-H-Hinata." The shy girl in front of him asked. She was really pretty, almost as pretty as Sakura-chan!

"Hi, Hinata! I'm sorry those kids were bullying you, my dad said that bullies are bad guys and it's ok if I beat them up. He said my mom used to beat up bullies when she was alive. I wanna be just like my mom and beat up bullies and help cute people like you!" Naruto announced

"Y-you think I'm cute?" Hinata asked demurely. "R-really?"

"Uh-oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to come off as a pervert or something! Dad always says to treat ladies nice and not be a pervert like his Sensei is. I did mean it though, you're real pretty, but I promise I only mean it in a nice way!" Naruto spoke, even more nervously than before.

"N-no! I'm not mad!" Hinata gasped, standing up and looking at the small rabble of bullies that Naruto had beat up to protect her. "I'm… thank you… you look nice too, and you're very brave. What did you say your name was again?"

"Naruto! Naruto Namikaze!"

Hinata's eyes widened and she berated herself for being so dense. It was the Hokage's son! She quickly bowed and mumbled an apology. "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry I didn't recognize you, young master. I promise I meant no offense Namikaze-sama!"

Naruto frowned. "N-no it's fine!" He said, placating her. Why was she upset? This didn't seem right. People weren't nice to him. And his family name was Uzumaki, not Namikaze. Why was she calling him a young master? His head hurt.

UN:PoA

Clone 1 was blasted against the wall again before Clone 2 and several others jumped down the access hatch. "Any updates!?" Clone 2 asked in a panic. Clone 1 just shook his head.

"Every time I try to reach him I get blasted back!" Clone 1 shouted.

Suddenly all the clones stiffened and gripped their heads as they each lived multiple lifetimes. They were ninjas, chefs, merchants, thieves. They were orphans, they were only children, they had many younger siblings. They were alone, they were loved, they loved. They loved Sakura, they loved Hinata, they loved Ino. Each one lived different lives, each wave of lives hurting more than the last. Soon the clones began to pop from the pain until there was only the original Naruto left. Hand still placed against the seal covered wall, his voice ran horse as he screamed. Suddenly he too was blasted away from the wall and landed like a broken doll onto the floor. He wasn't entirely sure if it was real when he heard words spoken from the wall.

"**There are many fates for you Uzukage-sama. Choose wisely."**

The seal-covered wall let out the loud groan of stone grinding on stone as it slowly opened up, receding into the sides of the wall to reveal a massive library full of tomes and books in mint condition.

Naruto merely looked at the opening and blinked slowly. "Great," he slurred. "How'm I s'posed to deal with all this shit?"

UN:PoA

Author's Notes

Wow, this took forever to put out. I'm not making excuses but long story short I don't have a beta anymore. If anyone is interested in beta-ing this story please say so and I would greatly appreciate it. I also want to state that I hold absolutely zero ill will towards my previous beta. There wasn't a fight or anything (Although if there was a fight I would have totally won) just two separate lives going separate ways.

I've also been dealing with a lot of real-life stuff so that's prevented me from really giving this the time it deserves. Sorry for the wait, and thank you for your patience.


End file.
